By Elaine Donnelly
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Independent voices from the TWT Communities
The number of Monarch butterflies making it to their winter refuge in Mexico dropped 59 percent this year, falling to the lowest level since comparable record-keeping began 20 years ago, scientists reported Wednesday.
The number of Monarch butterflies making it to their winter refuge in Mexico dropped 59 percent this year, falling to the lowest level since comparable record-keeping began 20 years ago, scientists reported Wednesday.
Illegal logging has practically been eliminated in the western Mexico wintering grounds of the monarch butterfly, according to a research report released Wednesday, and Mexican officials now hope to use the successful program of anti-logging patrols and payments to rural residents to solve other forestry conflicts throughout the country.
Experts are reporting a partial recovery in the annual winter migration of Monarch butterflies to Mexico following a devastating 75 percent drop last year.
The number of Monarch butterflies wintering in western Mexico has plunged despite a dramatic decline in illegal logging in their mountain forest nesting grounds, experts said Monday.
"It is now necessary for the United States and Canada to do their part and protect the butterflies' habitat in their territories," Vidal said.
Omar Vidal, the World Wildlife Fund director in Mexico, said: "The conservation of the Monarch butterfly is a shared responsibility between Mexico, the United States and Canada. By protecting the reserves and having practically eliminated large-scale illegal logging, Mexico has done its part."
