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The Monarch Butterfly Region is located between the states of Michoacan and Mexico in the country's Trans-volcanic geologic belt. The Monarch Butterfly program of WWF concentrates its conservation efforts on the 56,259 hectares of forest that make up the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve where the majority of hibernating colonies are found.
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Ubicación
de la Región de la Mariposa Monarca |
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Environment
The mountains of the region are primarily covered by oak forests up to 2900 m , of pine and pine-oak mix between 1500 and 3000 m , and of fir between 2400 and 3600 m . Other minor vegetation associations in the region include cedar-juniper forest and prairies. The lowlands of the region have been dramatically transformed by agriculture and urban-rural development.
Every autumn the monarch butterfly travels roughly 4500 kilometers from Canada and the United States to arrive in its Mexican wintering grounds by November. On these grounds, the butterflies aggregate by the millions and stay for up to five months. The conservation of this ecosystem is critical for the survival of the monarch and its migration. The pine-fir ecosystem is key to the butterfly's survival because of the shelter and microclimate conditions it provides during the frosts and rains of winter.
The approach to conservation in the region has evolved over the course of several governmental decrees, the most recent of which came in 2000 when the federal government created the Monarch Butterfly Reserve in the states of Mexico and Michoacan. This reserve contains three core zone areas where no resource extraction is allowed, and two surrounding buffer areas where limited sustainable extraction is permitted.
Culture, Society and Economy
The Monarch Butterfly Region is inhabited principally by agrarian communities that are descendant from Mazahua and Otomi indigenous cultures. In contrast to other forested areas in the country, the land is divided between many ejidos, indigenous communities and small property owners. Specifically, the 56,259 protected hectares are composed of 59 ejidos, 13 indigenous communities and 21 small properties.
The Reserve is also divided across two states. This diversity in land tenure creates complex challenges for conservation in the region. In the indigenous communities, illiteracy and child malnutrition are common, as is access to basic services. Previously, there was strong mining industry in Angangueo, Michoacan, that provided employment. Currently though, families depend on corn cultivation using fairly primitive techniques. Forest exploitation has a long history, primarily for furniture, construction and packing crates. The inhabitants have identified a lack of employment options for young people as one of its principal problems—a phenomenon that has played a major role in the high migration rates to urban centers in Mexico , the U.S. and Canada .
A few communities have nevertheless opted for trying to sustainable manage their natural resources and develop tourism around the monarch butterfly as alternate income sources. While some communities have had success in this arena, not all will be able to benefit in this way.
Impacts and Threats
The main impacts and threats in the Monarch Butterfly Region are:
a) Deforestation
b) Poor forest management
c) Poorly organized tourism
d) Forest fires
e) Limited coordination among economic sectors
Actividades
de WWF
For more than a decade, WWF has worked to conserve the hibernation habitat of the monarch butterfly. In recent years, WWF has expanded its Monarch Butterfly Program to address threats using an integrated approach.
A major milestone in this effort has been the coordination of international experts on the biology and ecology of the monarch in 1998-2000 to improve the design of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. WWF also helped create the Monarch Butterfly Conservation Fund to develop economic incentives that will encourage local communities to conserve the core zones of the Reserve.
These strategies have been successful and have created good models to follow. They nevertheless need complementary efforts to strengthen and reinforce their impact.
To this end, WWF has chosen seven critical actions to strengthen monarch conservation efforts: Organization of the Monarch Forum
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Primer Foro Regional de la Mariposa Monarca |
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In 2003, WWF invited the federal and state governments of Mexico and Michoacan to create the Monarch Butterfly Regional Forum with the goal of improving interinstitutional coordination and focusing on priority themes and sites in the Monarch Region. With the participation of 16 municipalities from Michoacan and 11 from Mexico State , the forum has supported strategic planning initiatives for forest protection and law enforcement, sustainable economic activities, protected area management and environmental education.
Delivery of Economic Incentives by the Monarch Fund
WWF and the Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature have supported the new Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve through the Monarch Butterfly Conservation Fund (FCMM), which was established with a $5 million endowment from the Packard Foundation and $1.5 million from the Mexican governments (federal and states of Mexicon and Michoacan). The FCMM provides economic incentives and financial compensation to land owners who have lost their rights to forest use in the core zone of the Reserve.
Promoting Conservation and Enforcement of Laws
Illegal logging is one of the most urgent issues to resolve to protect the monarch's habitat. As part of its activities, WWF has provided the government with an assessment of deforestation and studies conducted in the Reserve. We are working to develop a memorandum of understanding with the Minister of the Environment with the goal of improving forest protection and monitoring in the protected area, as well as reforestation efforts in the surrounding areas.
WWF also has a pilot project that supports the Ejido El Rosario community in one of the principal hibernation areas. Profits from sales of the book “Danaidas: the Marvelous Monarch Butterfly” will help pay for the uniforms and salaries of the teams that police the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. The book is a special publication of the WWF-Telcel Alliance.
Promotion of Sustainable Tourism
During the butterfly's hibernation season, more than 100,000 tourists visit the sanctuaries. The huge number of visitors and horse traffic has caused erosion of the interpretive trails, the opening of new, unauthorized trails and increasing amounts of trash in the area due to a lack of organization and control.
WWF is working to convert Michoacan's main butterfly tourist site, Ejido El Rosario, into a model of sustainable tourism. The project, which is supported by the WWF-Telcel Alliance, includes the development of a land management plan, improvements in tourism infrastructure, repair and improvements of the trail system, interpretive signs and general upkeep by the community. Our objective is to replicate the improvements made in Ejido El Rosario in other priority sites in the region. .
Diffusion lf Knowledge Base for Protected Areas Management
In 2003, WWF implemented a systematic forest monitoring program. As a result of our evaluation of forest health during the period 2001-2003, the government increased its protection efforts in the region.
During the 2004-2005 hibernation, the National Commission for Protected Areas Management (CONANP) requested the help of WWF to conduct a systematic monitoring of the hibernating monarch colonies. Our preliminary report showed a significant decrease in the abundance of butterflies during this period. This was the first such monitoring effort covering all the colonies conducted during the hibernating season.
Restoration of Forest Habitat
In 2005, WWF, in collaboration with the National Forest Commission (CONAFOR), initiated an ecological restoration project in priority sites of the core zone of the Reserve. Our activities began with the restoration of 400 hectares in four priority sites, based on degradation and importance. We provided technical assistance to 8 communities from the Ocampo municipality in Michoacan in starting forest plantations with commercial potential in and around the core zone of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. These activities are attempting to reforest areas that have been previously cleared, while also establishing economic alternatives for owners of land in the protected areas.
Building Capacity and an Environmental Culture
With the goal of raising consciousness about regional environmental issues, WWF has organized flights for government officials and members of surrounding communities with support from Lighthawk, an organization of volunteer pilots who support conservation projects. The flights allow officials to see the extent of the problems and for community members to gain a perspective on regional conservation.
For a larger-scale impact, WWF and Telcel, a leader in the telecommunications industry, are working for the protection of the monarch butterfly and its migratory phenomenon. The WWF-Telcel Alliance and the Government of Michoacan are supporting the Papalotzin initiative to increase awareness throughout the migratory route of the monarch. Papalotzin is the name of the ultralight plane that, painted like a monarch butterfly, followed the butterflies from Canada to Mexico distributing information about its migration and shooting a documentary on the challenges that face them in that journey.
We are also designing posters with information about the monarch's life cycle, its migration, wintering habitat and related protected areas, to be distributed to visitor centers and three museums in Mexico City .
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