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.
2022
Reforestation 2022
Supported by MBF funding, Alternare’s team completed the 2022 summer reforestation successfully planting 22,200 trees in 23 hectares! Around 800 women, men, and children from the indigenous communities of Francisco Serrato, Crescencio Morales, San Felipe los Alzati, San Juan Zitácuaro, Nicolas Romero, Donaciano Ojeda and Francisco Serrato, San Juan Zitácuaro and El Capulin ejidos participated in the effort. Several species of pine (Pinus pseudostrobus, Pinus devoniana, Pinus ayacahuite and Pinus greggii) trees were planted on the MBBR’s buffer zone along with oyamel (Abies religiosa) alder (Alnus acuminata), ash (Fraxinus), mexican cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) and oak (Quercus).Below the map showing the reforestation areas (click on the map to enlarge).
Images from the reforestation:
Journalist Rodrigo Caballero visited the Carpinteros indigenous community and published an article titled “Carpinteros, the Place Where Avocado Saved the Forest” (Click here for the English translation) in April, 2022 where he tells us how the Otomi community managed to balance planting avocados and the conservation of their forests. The people from Carpinteros managed to reforest more than 40 thousand trees in 2020 and 2021 alone thanks to support from Alternare and the local governments. Undoubtedly the support that MBF provides to Alternare every year to support reforestation is not only helping communities produce organic avocados but is also yielding lots of positive fruits and benefits!
