Our summer reforestation is complete! Our local partner in Mexico, Alternare, was joined by 700 hundred members from 7 local communities and planted 27,835 trees in 20 hectares of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve’s buffer zone.
Communities were excited and enthusiastic taking care the seedlings were planted properly and in the locations they selected themselves. Plans to monitor and protect the recently forested areas are underway with local surveillance committees instituted to make sure the trees are safe from loggers. Local engagement has proved to be the most successful strategy prompting communities to take ownership of conservation and stewardship of their forests.
But that is not all! We also held a workshop to construct a cistern for a community with the participation of 2 women and 12 men and another7 workshops to build fuel-efficient stoves with 59 women and 3 men. We built 56 stoves! Proudly standing by a completed stove for her family, a participant expressed her satisfaction: “Building this stove will enable me to spend time with my family and keep them healthy because we don’t have as much smoke and we are saving wood.”
Thank you very much for your generous support which is making all this possible. We are looking forward to an overwintering season with a higher population of monarchs!