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 2019
Three indigenous communities and three ejidos (communal properties) that live in and around the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR) participated in our 2019 summer reforestation. We planted 22,905 trees on 20 sites in 21.5 hectares. The map below shows the locations of the reforestations (labeled with numbers and shown in red outline, visible if map is enlarged).
Overwintering Season 2018-2019
During the past overwintering season, experts from the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR) and the Natural Protected Areas Commission (CONANP), in collaboration with the WWF Mexico-Telmex-Telcel partnership, reported a 114% increase of the surface covered by monarch butterfly colonies. Although this increase to approximately 6 hectares (12 acres) was very good news, it will be several years before we know if the population has stabilized. Our continued work to increase the abundance of native milkweeds in the monarch breeding range and the continued protection of closed forests for monarchs in Mexico will help to ensure long-term sustainability of monarch numbers.
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