Monarch Butterflies: Some Great News from Mexico

article from March 1, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

The Monarch Butterflies have made a comeback!

The news from Mexico is so often interlaced with its drug-related problems; but for once, I am happy to report the good news that the amazing monarch butterflies have returned in greater numbers than they have for a while.

For those of you who are not familiar with this incredible traveler, here are some basics: They migrate from Canada and the USA all the way to the central-western Mexican states of Michoacán and Mexico, a distance of over 3,000 miles, to spend the winter in some small forest enclaves there. Several generations come and go, until the Methuselah generation is born. The males serve only as breeders, and all die in Mexico, leaving the females to return to the northern latitudes, where they will lay their eggs for successive generations to return back to their wintering grounds in the high mountains of Mexico.

Since they return to the area around the Day of the Dead, natives since pre-colonial times have thought of them as being the souls of deceased children, treating them with fearful respect.

The last few years have been very hard on their population’s survival. Harsh climatic conditions and illegal logging have taken their toll on this adventurous insect. Some years back, while we lived in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, which is at an altitude of about 7,000 feet, we experienced a particularly cold and wet winter, which was very unusual, as that is normally the bone-dry season. The combination of the rains and sub-freezing temperature were catastrophic to the monarchs. They died by the millions before they could complete their reproductive cycle, greatly reducing the number of females returning to the USA and Canada. Witnesses stated that they were wading in knee-deep dead butterflies (I only saw the photos).

This was also a particularly harsh time for the human population around that region. The Mexican economy, never having provided much hope for the really poor rural population, got even worse, and the resulting suffering, financially and climatically, led to a rapid and large increase in illegal logging. The locals were literally freezing to death in their homes and had little choice but to cut firewood for survival, increasing the normal consumption level of the pine forests greatly, thereby reducing the area the monarchs used and endangering the reduced return migration.

The Mexican government stationed police and soldiers along the roads to control the large-scale looting of forests by commercial operators, which led to several fatal encounters. The whole area had been designated a biosphere and was eventually declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the local population was urged to get engaged in the protection not only of the forests, but also of the monarch butterflies.

Soon, the people around the region realized that they stood to make more money from the ecotourism that this phenomenon fostered than from trying to steal the trees for firewood to sell. The states of Michoacán and Mexico supplied funds for improving access by adding trails and rest areas, as well as to provide salaries for guides and guards. And it worked! There is still some illegal logging going on, but it is mitigated by replanting and the locals jealously guarding their heritage (read source of income).

Mind you, there are still plenty of campesinos who go to these forests every day to get fuel for cooking and heating, but they go by horse and donkey, as they traditionally have, and they don’t make much of a dent, as they pick up mostly fallen timber and dead branches, a huge difference from the caravans of heavy trucks that had been destroying the forests by the thousands of acres.

The really great news is that the number of monarch butterflies that came back this year has doubled, and they are occupying twice the acreage as they did last year. The ecotourists are coming, in spite of the scary reputation of the region, and the local population is benefiting, having realized that having this miracle in their midst is a financial blessing. While this is all good news, these folks must still find a way to survive the other eight months of the year.

So the next time you see a monarch butterfly, think of the huge migrations their ancestors have been making for thousands of years to assure the survival of the species.

Hug a tree, but not a butterfly, as they are very sensitive human beings. You can be nice to them by slowing down when you encounter a flight of them in Texas or Florida or while making your own winter migration to Mexico in the fall.

Jamie Douglas

Patagonia

[Photo by Kenneth Dwain Harrelson via Wikipedia]

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.