Peregrine Accelerator for Conservation Impact 2023

Since its founding, the Salazar Center has worked to support and advance connectivity and resilience across landscapes and political borders. Our work is rooted in the belief that bringing diverse people together across boundaries offers rich opportunities for learning and developing better outcomes for people and nature.  

The Center’s Peregrine Accelerator for Conservation Impact champions and invests in ideas that contribute to national and global targets for biodiversity and climate, advance community wellbeing, and address environmental inequities and injustice. Through capacity building, funding opportunities, and a strengthened network, the program accelerates the pace and scale of these important projects.  

The inaugural Peregrine cohort focused on innovative conservation solutions supporting and advancing ecological and human health in the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo River basin. 

The 2025 cohort will drive impact in the North Atlantic coastal region. The application will open in Summer 2024. 

The projects being advanced by the inaugural Rio Grande/Rio Bravo cohort defy boundaries. Their works spans from the headwaters of the river in Colorado, to the city of Monterrey in Mexico. This basin-wide work is driving meaningful impact for communities and ecosystems that are connected by this mighty river. 

Spanning 1,885 miles and 355,500 square miles, the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo River supports the health and livelihoods of over 6 million people and a wide diversity of plants and animals. This binational watershed is shared by four states in Mexico, and three in the United States. For years this basin has been overlooked and over-allocated, leading to an urgent need for collaboration and resources across its geography. 

In early 2023, nine teams were selected to be the inaugural cohort. They represent over twenty organizations working across the basin on innovative conservation solutions supporting and advancing ecological and human health in the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo River basin. Their projects represent a range of community-led efforts across the basin that will build resilience for communities and ecosystems.  

Representatives from each of the nine teams gathered at the Ghost Ranch Education and Retreat Center in Abiquiu, New Mexico in March 2023. This kickoff gathering helped to establish relationships and connectivity across the cohort to support the ongoing collaboration over their shared basin. Participants gained hands-on training in different fundraising strategies and strategic planning mechanisms. 

Rivers are natural organizing lines for all landscapes across the continent, and their watershed boundaries supersede jurisdictional and political boundaries and encourage holistic, system-level thinking. As such, river basins represent a compelling biogeographic organizing framework through which to explore improving transboundary, large landscape conservation. Through thoughtful and extensive outreach to dozens of partners and stakeholders in the US-Mexico borderlands, we heard that not only would this kind of basin focus resonate in the region, but that such a focus could add significant value to the Rio Grande basin (or as it is called in Mexico, the Rio Bravo).  

The Rio Grande/Rio Bravo basin is a mosaic of cities and towns, working lands, public lands, and protected areas. By definition, it is also transboundary, with approximately half the watershed in the US and the other half in Mexico. It includes important wildlife habitats, migration corridors, and rich biodiversity, alongside deep cultural history and diverse human settlements. Throughout the basin, the health of landscapes and communities are deeply intertwined, and the river is crucial to both. 

At the same time, the basin is beset by climate change, and its natural resources, ecosystems, and wildlife face a variety of threats. The region is also experiencing rapid population growth and economic development, all of which impact the health of the basin and lead to less water for communities, habitat, and species. 

The current reality and future of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo basin pose important challenges and opportunities for innovative approaches to land and water conservation, community health and engagement, and transboundary collaboration. 

We would like to thank our partners who helped us to better understand the unique needs and challenges of the Basin when we were selecting the region for the program and developing the call for project proposals: World Wildlife Fund, World Wildlife Fund Mexico, The Nature Conservancy, CSU College of Business, Institute for Entrepreneurship, Texan by Nature, Wildlands Network, Borderlands Restoration Network, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Salazar Rio Grande del Norte Center at Adams State University, Bureau of Reclamation, and the Rio Grande Joint Venture. 

The program culminated with a presentation event in September 2023, where an additional $150,000 of implementation funding was awarded to three of the project teams. The Salazar Center will continue to engage with the entire cohort and maintain the community of practice into the future. You can watch the presentations in  English  or  Spanish  to learn more about each team's impressive work!

"I highly recommend conservation practitioners to participate in the Peregrine Accelerator. We had a diverse team, from newbies through seasoned professionals, and the program had resources for everyone to learn and grow. Having access to a variety of workshops, 1:1 time with mentors specialized in a particular area, and more, really helped propel our conservation project forward by helping us to navigate our specific challenges and think about project development through a new lens." -Cassandra McCuen

"The cohort allows participants to see that they are part of a bigger goal and are contributing to the Rio Grande Basin. Not only is feeling part of a community something future cohorts will experience but the connections and relationships created will be priceless. The work we are doing in our communities needs an army and future practitioners being part of this wonderful program will allow everyone to create and implement a change."

The Salazar Center for North American Conservation works to connect diverse leaders, communities, and resources across the North American continent in order to accelerate the pace and scale of equitable, innovative, and durable solutions for nature and all people. The Center brings together thought leaders, resources, and diverse perspectives to inform an intersectional approach to conservation challenges, building bridges that connect academic research, community practice, and policy development. Learn more about our other initiatives on  our website. 

We are grateful for our generous funders without whom this program would not have been possible. Thank you to the VF Foundation, the Trinchera Blanca Foundation, an affiliate of The Moore Charitable Foundation, founded by Louis Bacon, Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation, Gates Family Foundation, Jim Kelley and Amie Knox, and Martha Records and Rich Rainaldi for your support.

Interested in learning more about the work being Peregrine Accelerator or becoming a supporter? Reach out to Catie Boehmer at catie.boehmer@colostate.edu.