Borderlands Earth Care Youth Institute Restoration Work in the U.S./Mexico Borderlands

Abstract

The Borderlands Earth Care Youth (BECY) Institute is an example of hands-on environmental education where high school students engage with restoration. BECY inspires and trains the next generation of land stewards by hiring borderland youth to restore their home watersheds. The 12-person youth crews, currently located in two rural communities just north of the U.S./Mexico border, are paid to implement hands-on restoration, utilizing science-based techniques, to return biodiversity to the landscape and urban binational communities. During its 8-year program, BECY interns have been hired to refill plummeting groundwater tables, stabilize dwindling native pollinator populations, revegetate barren landscapes, arrest erosion, link fragmented wildlife corridors, and support sustainable food systems. Each BECY crew is led by two young adults, ages 21 to 26, who are graduates of the program. Restoration projects are completed in collaboration with local conservation professionals working in careers accessible to local youth. Along with tiered near-peer mentorship, BECY crews develop leadership and team-building skills while learning critical concepts in watershed, ecosystem, and food system restoration. Youth interns graduate from the BECY crew by completing independent restoration projects and presenting a report of their project at a community graduation ceremony. Through prolonged contact with restoration professionals across the Sky Island Restoration Collaborative, BECY has bridged a gap in establishing viable restoration-based economies in multiple underserved rural border communities, with the goal of catalyzing an ethic of cross-border land stewardship for generations into the future.