In 2017, MBF began to fund a new project by The Butterflies and Their People, A.C. (B&TP), led by Dr. Ellen Sharp and Joel Moreno who are training residents from Ejido El Capulín, Ejido Nicolás Romero and Nicolás Romero indigenous community to participate in multiple monitoring projects. In September 2017, B&TP hired one full-time forest arborist from each of these communities who regularly visit the overwintering colonies and provide detailed information about wildlife, species, and forest health over the winter period. Dr. Guillermo Ibarra, renowned botanist and Dr. Pablo Jaramillo will train the arborists to monitor a natural regeneration project as well as documenting birds, flowers, and mushrooms in Cerro Pelón.