MBF and other organizations are supporting an education and citizen science program in Northern Mexico along the migratory route and overwintering sites of the monarch butterfly. Under PROFAUNA, A.C’s watch and coordinated by Correo Real this project includes strengthening an ongoing program titled “My Municipality with the Monarch (Mayor´s Monarch Pledge). Started in 2017, this initiative involves adding municipalities where monarchs rest, feed and fly during the fall migration, to participate in creating pollinator gardens and other activities. The project includes carrying out pollinator garden workshops, increasing outreach efforts through websites and social media, among others. Read all about this initiative in Correo Real’s latest Spring 2018 newsletter (in English).
In 2019, Correo Real’s program continued and they set up ten pollinator gardens in local schools and held five training workshops for personnel from the municipalities participating in the Pledge. Ten metal plaques marked the dedication of each pollinator garden as a site to feed and shelter butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and other pollinators. Additionally, Correo Real participated in three events to promote the initiative with different stakeholders and interested citizens and printed 1,000 copies of the fact sheets describing the Pledge. Other outreach activities included the publication of 22 newsletters in Spanish throughout the year, out of which seven were translated into English, and 42 Facebook postings that reached 128,306 people. Last but not least, Correo Real held a workshop from November 28-29, 2018, at Alternare’s Training Center. Key topics addressed were environmental education, citizen science, pollinator gardens, and forestry culture and outreach.