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Monarchs' Winter Habitat Loss Looms in Mexico!

© Naomi Mathews

Once again, the mysterious fall migration of monarch butterflies is underway. These amazing "flying flowers" instinctively know when it's time to leave their summer habitats in North America and Canada and make their way south to Mexico -- a flight of about 3,000 miles.

For millenniums, hundreds of millions of monarchs have roosted in the Oyamel Fir forests in Mexico where they will remain until spring. Their remote overwintering site--located on the Transvolcanic Plateau--lies deep in the mountainous forests between the states of Mexico and Michoacan. It is there that these colorful orange and black monarch butterflies cling in such immense clusters that they literally shroud the fir trees, much like a thick patchwork quilt.

Will these magnificent monarchs find their winter habitat in the Oyamel forests in Mexico waiting for them as usual? OR, will they still have this special haven in which to roost in winters to come? Read on, friends and fellow monarch enthusiasts, for a summary of some grave and startling facts that currently threaten this famous monarch habitat.

URGENT WARNINGS FROM MONARCH BUTTERFLY EXPERTS!

The New York Times, (September 12, 2000, Science Times, p.1) published an urgent update by Dr. Lincoln P. Brower and other conservationists warning of the critical crisis facing monarch butterflies in Mexico. Within ten days following the update, the New York City Parks Department hosted a special event in New York's Central Park to help inform the public as to what must be done to effectively respond to this crisis.

News and film coverage sparked by Mastervision, an educational video company, attracted media coverage to the event from ABC, CBS, The New York Times, and Newsday. New York Parks Commissioner Henry Stern introduced noted speakers that day to emphasize the international significance of this major event. Speeches and statements were presented by Drs. Lincoln Brower, Orley Taylor, Paul Opler, Robert Michael Pyle, and officials from the Mexican government and the World Wildlife Fund. All declared that "it is crunch time" for the Monarch overwintering grounds in Mexico.

Highlights and Significance of the Monarchs' Winter Habitat Loss

The director of Monarch Watch, Prof. Orley Taylor of the University of Kansas, emphasized the following points in his speech:

Conservation of the monarch migration is a significant concern. In good years as many as 500 million monarchs in eastern North America migrate to Mexico, where they overwinter in Oyamel Fir forests on mountain tops in a relatively small area west of Mexico City.

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