Deforestation in Mexico’s Monarch butterfly reserve drops to very low levels

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Deforestation in Mexico’s Monarch butterfly reserve drops to very low levels
By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, July 21, 8:16 PM

MEXICO CITY — Deforestation in the wintering grounds of the Monarch butterfly in central Mexico has dropped to just over one acre’s worth of trees, compared to the hundreds of acres lost annually in the past, experts said Thursday.

And fewer of the pine and fir trees that shelter the butterflies have been lost to bad weather this year, according to a report by researchers from Mexico’s National Autonomous University and the Monarch Fund.

Illegal logging in the protected butterfly reserve dropped from 1.56 hectares in the 2009 winter season to just under a half hectare (about one acre) in the reserve’s core zone during this year’s winter.

“This is what happens when you have enforcement of the law, and economic alternatives for the inhabitants,” said Omar Vidal, whose environmental group, the Worldwide Fund for Nature, has contributed along with cellphone company Telcel to economic development projects like tree nurseries in the reserve.





Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/deforestation-in-mexicos-monarch-butterfly-reserve-drops-to-very-low-levels/2011/07/21/gIQAV76hSI_story.html?wprss=rss_world

[jberryhill]

1. I, for one, oppose monarchy among Lepidoptera

Once they have completed metamorphosis, there is no reason why they are unfit for self government.

[AlecBGreen]

7. +1

:rofl:

[ozone_man]

2. That's some promising news.

I'd hate to see them go, and this refuge is critical to their survival.

[glinda]

3. We finally saw one today. Five years ago we had a tree full of them. The last four years nothing.

[bvar22]

4. I spent a Summer in Minnesota photographing these beautiful Butterflys.

The World will be a lesser place when they are gone. :cry:

[freshwest]

6. Thanks for the pictures, I love these creatures. Their migration is inspiring to me.

[EFerrari]

5. If deforestation drops, doesn't that mean less deforestation?

lol

[SharonAnn]

8. Yes. The article said that less than one acre of forest been lost.