Reforestation and forest restoration in the monarch’s Mexican overwintering sites and surrounding areas are important for the well-being of the local residents and for the monarch butterfly. We support comprehensive, science-based reforestation and conservation projects that engage local communities.
The partnerships MBF has established with different organizations have helped us support reforestation projects within the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR). Our collaboration with Alternare and CIGA (UNAM’s Center for Research in Environmental Geography), which started in 2011 has led to successful reforestation of many areas and strengthened our relationships with the local communities who participate in our projects.
Reforestation 2020
Plans for the summer 2020 reforestation season are underway. Following up on the joint Alternare and MBF reforestation program, this year 20 hectares will be planted in different spots in the following indigenous communities: Crescencio Morales, Francisco Serrato and Nicolás Romero and in Manzanillos and El Capulín Ejidos in the State of Mexico. We expect to produce 24,000 thousand forest trees from thirty collective nurseries (school and community) located in the San Juan Zitácuaro River micro-watershed A final evaluation on the natural regeneration will also be performed on the same five hectares already setup in the Carpinteros indigenous community. The reforestation is contibuting to the recovery and conservation of the MBBR’s natural resources by reforesting as well as buiding and strengthening capacities of the stakeholders involved in forest management and care.