The Monarchs migrate to the five sanctuaries located in the high elevations of the transvolcanic mountains that cross the State of Michoacan in Central Mexico. These five sanctuaries, Cerro Altamarino, Sierra Chincua, Cerro El Campanario, Cerros Chivati-Hucal, and Cerro Pelon were decreed protected areas by the President of Mexico in 1988. The millions of Monarchs that have bred in an area of more than 2.6 million square kilometers east of the Rockies in the United States and Canada funnel into a geographic area of only 1,800 kilometers. The oyamel fir forest, where the overwintering sites are located, is part of a high altitude ecosystem that occupies less than one half of one percent of Mexico's land area.

The above paragraph is based, in part, on data from "Forest thinning increases monarch butterfly mortality by altering the microclimate of the overwintering sites in Mexico", by Lincoln P. Brower reprinted from Decline and Conservation of Butterflies n Japan III -- Proceedings International Symposium on Butterfly Conservation Osaka, Japan, 1994.

There are small communities called ejidos located in the protective buffer areas. The campesinos living in the ejidos are faced with a daily struggle to survive. Imagine, if you can, being a father with three or four children who wakes up each morning and is faced with the problem of providing for his family. The campesinos have created small clearings which they depend on to exist by grazing a few cattle and other livestock and raising corn. They also cut trees in the buffer areas for that firewood and to manufacture charcoal. Because of their deep poverty and the value of trees for heating and cooking as well as shingles, beams, planks and furniture, contraband logging continues. As a result, the sanctuaries' umbrella and blanket are being worn down. This is the central problem.

The Government of Michoacan State has established a permit program which specifies how much logging each ejido can do each year. This program has not worked very well. In July of 1996, the Government of Mexico and the State of Michoacan announced a new program to increase the number of police to regulate contraband logging. In addition, both the State of Michoacan and the Federal Government have tree nurseries which were intended to grow trees to be planted in the buffer areas. However, the trees that have been propagated in these nurseries have often been the wrong species or have not been vigorous enough to survive.

Basically, none of these government programs has worked because they have never given the campesinos an alternative which will provide a way they can survive. We believe that the La Cruz Habitat Protection Project is a new approach that provides an alternative that can and will make a difference. When the trees from Vivero Hacienda La Cruz are transplanted in the buffer areas, the economic pressure to continue wearing down the buffer areas may be reduced. It is hoped that the campesinos will start treating the oyamel forest as a sustainable resource.