Mariposa Monarca
Every year, the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve hosts millions of monarch butterflies every year, which after migrating 50,000 km southwards from Canada and the United States, arrive in the oyamel forests of the states of Mexico and Michoacán. Lynx, the Aztec blackbird and the brook salamander also benefit from the conservation of this important area in which local communities and Indigenous peoples actively participate.
Located in the rugged and forested mountains in the states of Michoacán and Mexico, about 100 km northwest of Mexico City, the biosphere reserve covers an area of 56,259 ha of temperate pine, oyamel and oak forests. It is also an important rainwater catchment area and a strategic point for the conservation of the country’s biodiversity, due to its high degree of endemism.
Each monarch butterfly weighs 0.5 grammes and flaps its wings between 300 and 720 times per minute. This enables it to cover 75–130 km per day during the eight-month migration.
This is the altitude at which the forests of oyamel, fir, pine and cedar trees that provide refuge for the monarch butterflies grow in the mountains of the biosphere reserve.
Monarch butterflies travel each autumn from Canada and the United States – where they breed – and arrive in Mexico to hibernate. This extraordinary migration is the most evolved of all known insect species.
live in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, developing productive agroforestry activities, handicraft production and ecotourism, among other activities.
The queen of the forest
Every year from November to March, millions of Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) gather in small areas of the reserve, turning the landscape orange. In 2008, the forest was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Milkweed
The larvae of Monarch butterflies feed on an herb known as milkweed, poisonweed or Asclepia, which has toxic and medicinal properties. The butterflies are able to assimilate the poisons and store them in their exocuticle (insect skin), in order to defend themselves from predators.
"The harvester”
The Monarch butterfly forms part of local history and the collective memory and cosmovision of the native peoples. The Purépechas consider it the soul of the dead and its arrival coincides with the traditional “Day of the Dead”, on 2 November.
The Mazahua and Otomi refer to the Monarch butterfly as “The Harvester” because of it arrives as the land is prepared and cultivated for sowing.
Migration
The Monarch butterfly breeds east of the mountains of southern Canada and much of the United States. The Methuselah generation then travels to central Mexico. The return journey occurs in early spring and takes four generations of butterflies to complete. This migration includes more than 90% of the North American Monarch butterfly population
Queen Elizabeth II
In 1988, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip visited the region, which heightened the visibility of the migratory phenomenon and the importance of its conservation.
More than 150,000 visitors a year
visit the Monarch butterfly colonies. In the Monarch Butterfly Protected Natural Area, there are five sanctuaries open to the public: Cerro Altamirano, Sierra Chincua, Sierra el Campanario, Cerros Chivatí-Huacal and Cerro Pelón.
