Community Conservation of Monarch Forest in Mexico

Thirty-three hectares in the buffer area of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve have been reforested to date with a total of 32,890 trees! Fourteen indigenous communities and six ejidos participated including children, youth, women, and men and continue expressing how happy they are to work with Alternare. Felipa, from Cresencio Morales indigenous community has been working with Alternare for six years and told us, “The slopes have been eroded from past landslides and deforestation so I’m planting trees on the edges to stop that from happening and to have the water running through the area remain and not dry out.”

This year the rainy season began during the first week of July, allowing us to start the reforestation in the third week of July, when the soil is damp.

Not only was the forest taken care of, but four workshops to build and maintain cisterns to capture rainwater were held in two indigenous communities. As a result, three community cisterns and one for schools were built. Fifty-nine women and 33 men all worked together to achieve this.

Thanks to your contributions, MBF has been able to support Alternare for 13 years and we are hoping to continue for many years to come.

THANK YOU!!

This April Alternare and their team celebrated their 25^th birthday with an event where they showed the movie “Flight of the Butterflies” in 3D. Many supporters attended and shared Alternare’s accomplishments throughout the year.

Rogelio Alcántara Guzmán, one of the community leaders was at the event said, "I strongly acknowledge Alternare's work and commitment. I have followed your activities which have shown responsibility to conserve the forests, its biodiversity, and your care for the environment."

Continuing their tradition, and after the participatory workshops held at the beginning of the year, Alternare is planning to plant 29,700 trees in 27 hectares within the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve this coming summer.

Additionally, they held 2 workshops resulting in the construction of three cisterns to capture rainwater para to supply 18 families and one school.

Congratulations to Alternare and to all of you who have supported MBF making all these accomplishments possible!!

After a wonderful and productive 2022, with reforestation and sustainable development projects, Alternare and the local communities have started planning for the coming year. During the first months of 2023 an evaluation of the 25 community work groups will be made to share the goals met as well as the challenges faced.

Ending 2022 around 18 women and 45 men participated in six workshops which resulted in the construction of three cisterns to capture rainwater and three fuel-efficient stoves.

Water distribution systems continue being a priority and fortunately the cisterns built will enable more equitable and efficient water allocation among communities. Families are increasingly finding that water resources are becoming scarce, and cisterns supply the much-needed water for them.

MBF continues supporting all these fantastic endeavours that strengthen the communities involved and help conserve the monarch butterfly’s migratory phenomenon!

Nine local indigenous communities joined Alternare in this year’s reforestation efforts surpassing the original goal of planting 21,000 trees by 1,200 for a total of 22,200 trees planted in 23 hectares! The area was also larger than the 20 hectares that has been planned originally. Around 800 women, men and children participated in the effort making this year as successful as the previous ones. MBF is proud to see that summer reforestations are consistently being carried out effectively.

A woman who wants to convert her agricultural parcel to forest told us, “I’m so pleased that Alternare and my fellow community members are helping me plant trees so I can let the land become what it originally was. I planted corn to subsist but now I know better and realize that it’s important to keep the forest alive, so we have water.”

Additionally, eight workshops were held in six communities with the participation of 164 people who built five cisterns and four water distribution systems. After careful analysis the communities identified that to use water sustainably, and provide water to more families, it was necessary to attach gutters to the cisterns with faucets so that each family can access the water.

Alternare’s proven reliability throughout the years working with communities has consolidated and strengthened MBF’s partnership with them making us proud to contribute to the improvement of reforestation and sustainable practices in the monarch butterfly’s overwintering forests. Without your support none of this would be possible and for that MBF is deeply grateful!

Alternare and four local communities are planning to plant 21,000 trees on 20 hectares this coming summer. The trees will come from several of the twenty collective nurseries (school and community) in the San Juan Zitácuaro micro-watershedthat are being maintained and overseen by the communities and Alternare.

During the first quarter of this year Alternare held 20 workshops in four Indigenous communities teaching participants how to manage waste properly and make organic fertilizer, Additionally, workshops on community savings and loans, bread-making, and food and preserve preservation, were held, targeting women so they have financial resources available. A woman told us that thanks to the workshops she has learned not only to make food but that she can sell it to others and have a little extra money for herself and her family. One cistern was built in Crescencio Morales Indigenous community along with a water distribution line benefiting 231 families.

MBF, Alternare and the indigenous communities in Michoacan and the State of Mexico thank you for your support!

Links:

• Click here to view our most recent Spring Newsletter