Morelia, Mich., July 23.- Following Thursday's announcement that the monarch butterfly is on the endangered species list, state Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla announced that all three levels of government and civil society will take action to conserve the butterfly's habitat.
However, for nearly three decades, environmentalists protecting the eastern part of the state, where this species hibernates, have warned that it is at risk, both from legal and illegal logging, as well as from the growth of human settlements and land use changes.
According to data from the state Environment Secretariat, this area of Michoacán has lost approximately 50 percent of its forest resources since that time. This has been one of the main reasons why the monarch butterfly has been listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened species, as announced by the organization.
In the mid-1990s, the Hidalgo municipality region began to be devastated by large sawmills, while illegal logging spread to Zinapécuaro, Zitácuaro, Ocampo, Angangueo, Contepec, and other towns.
In 2010, state environmental authorities admitted that more than 6,600 hectares of forest were lost each year, and that part of the 56,000 hectares of the protected buffer zone, designated for the arrival of the animal in winter, were also affected.
The deterioration also affected the core area, which covers an area of 16,000 hectares and includes the sanctuaries of El Campanario, in the El Rosario ejido (common land), Ocampo municipality; Altamirano, located 10 kilometers from Angangueo; Cerro Pelón, in Zitácuaro; Chivati Huacal, belonging to Senguio; and Sierra Chincua, in Tlapujahua.
In total, the region where this lepidopteran, which originates from Canada, reaches approximately 59 ejidos (common lands), 13 indigenous communities, and 21 small properties shared by the states of Mexico and Michoacán.
