Reforestation and forest restoration in the monarch’s Mexican overwintering sites and surrounding areas are important for the well-being of the local residents and for the monarch butterfly. We support comprehensive, science-based reforestation and conservation projects that engage local communities.
The partnerships MBF has established with different organizations have helped us support reforestation projects within the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR). Our collaboration with Alternare and CIGA (UNAM’s Center for Research in Environmental Geography), which started in 2011 has led to successful reforestation of many areas and strengthened our relationships with the local communities who participate in our projects.
With funding from MBF, Alternare and the indigenous communties of Crescencio Morales, San Felipe Los Alzati, Nicolás Romero y Ejido El Capulín are planning to plant 21,000 trees on 20 hectares this summer. The trees will come from several of the twenty collective nurseries (school and community) in the San Juan Zitácuaro micro-watershed that are being maintained and overseen by the communities and Alternare.
Recently, journalist Rodrigo Caballero visited the Carpinteros indigenous community and published an article titled “Carpinteros, the Place Where Avocado Saved the Forest” (Click here for the English translation) where he tells us how the Otomi community managed to balance planting avocados and the conservation of their forests. The people from Carpinteros managed to reforest more than 40 thousand trees in 2020 and 2021 alone thanks to support from Alternare and the local governments. Undoubtedly the support that MBF provides to Alternare every year to support reforestation is not only helping communities produce organic avocados but is also yielding lots of positive fruits and benefits!
On July 26, 2022 the Crescencio Morales Indigenous Community along with Alternare reforested a piece of land owned by Mrs. Cayetana who is turning her corn field into forest! Alternare’s instructors along with community members and children all pitched in happily joining the effort. This is one of the last reforestations planned for this summer. Community and school nurseries continue being maintained to have enough trees for the 2023 reforestation. Images of this reforestation are below.