Let the Monarch Rule

For many years, the population of the Monarch Butterfly has declined to dangerous levels. In 2013, the population reached its lowest ever recording. Now, there is a beacon of hope for the replenishing of the Monarch population, and it rests in Mexico. Mexico, which is the main hibernation area for the Monarch Butterfly, has recently put a halt to its logging, which has already provided evidence of an increase in the population.

Originally, the blame for the declining Monarch population was divided among two factors: illegal logging that occurred in Mexican forests and the decline of milkweed, the plant that Monarchs lay their eggs on, in the United States due to herbicide usage. However, the recent halt on logging is also restricting large companies and local loggers from cutting down trees. Studies have shown that the company logging was a bigger culprit than the illegal logging. The trees that the Monarch Butterfly depends upon during its migration are the pine and fir trees.

From the political spectrum, the awareness of the rapidly decreasing Monarch population was brought by activists and campaigners. These people pushed for a change to current logging and for stricter surveillance of illegal logging. Socially, local logging has stopped in response to suggested alternatives for employment and income. These alternatives have come from Mexican and international businesses and philanthropists and have been in the works for over a decade. Some of the currently successful alternatives are community tree nurseries and local surveillance and reporting of illegal logging.

While the suppression of the illegal logging appears to be a long term solution, concerns still remain about the mass logging performed by companies. The current absence of logging from these companies have not been legislatively stopped, and it appears to be only a matter of time before the companies begin to log again. Scientists and activists hope that by the time the companies start again, if they ever do, that the Monarch population will have a grasp on a possible rebound. The 2013 recorded population of the butterflies was 35 million. This is a significant drop from 1996, when there were 1 billion butterflies. Also the area that the butterflies encompassed dropped between 1996 and 2013 from 44.5 acres to 1.65 acres. Despite the dramatic collapse in population, Omar Vidal, the director of WWF-Mexico, says, “The monarch butterfly as a species is not endangered.”

At this moment, observers can only sit and wait to see if the stops on logging will have an impact on the Monarch Butterfly population. With any luck… it will. But if it does not, the question arises: Is there any way to save the Monarch Butterfly?

Here is a video related to this issue:

Here are the sources that were used in researching this topic:

• http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140129-monarch-butterflies-mexico-animals-science-environment-migration-nation/
• http://positivenews.org.uk/2015/environment/conservation/16871/hope-monarch-butterfly-mexican-logging-halted/
• http://www.monarch-butterfly.com/monarch-migration.html
• http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/09/09/logging-monarch-butterflies-mexico/2790039/
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-years-first-monarch-butterflies-are-entering-mexico-earlier-than-usual/2014/09/29/4c8330f2-44c4-11e4-b437-1a7368204804_story.html