This year marked the end of the research phase for this binational initiative to identify and protect cross-border wildlife corridors along the California–Baja California region. The San Diego Foundation, the Japan Foundation, and ICF funded parts of a strategy to increase awareness of these critical linkages where mountain lions, Quino Checkerspot butterflies, and coastal sage scrub habitat flourish.

Toyota plant located at the Tijuana–Tecate corridor.

Los Laureles Canyon in Tijuana lies adjacent to the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve in Imperial Beach, which was recognized this year by the United Nations as a wetland of international importance. ICF partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) coastal training program and the staff at Border Field State Park to promote best practices in stormwater management and erosion control in this critical upstream area.

Los Laureles Canyon.

Since 2002, ICF has been a member of the Border Philanthropy Partnership, made up of 21 border community foundations and nine national funders, managed by the Synergos Institute. This year, thanks to the financial support of the Ford Foundation, Synergos Institute and ICF teamed up with the El Paso Community Foundation, Fundación Empresarial Sonorense, and Cross Border Business Associates to research corporate giving trends in the border region with a publication that will be released in December 2005.

Aerial view of maquiladoras in Tijuana, BC, Mexico.

Over the last three years, Fundación Internacional de la Comunidad, San Diego Grantmakers, and ICF have partnered on a series of ross-border tours and dialogues to educate donors on the various issues that affect the border region. This year, all three organizations worked to showcase the San Diego–Baja California border region to over 300 delegates of the Council On Foundations’ (COF) annual meeting held in San Diego in April 2005.

COF participants learning about U.S.–Mexico immigration issues in Tijuana from SDSU professor Victor Clark, during the COF 2005 conference.