Earthwatch April 2007
Traversing the Miles: Monarchs Threatened in their Own Backyard
by Michelle Fletcher
ECO-LIFE Foundation founder Bill Toone holds monarch butterflies that have passed away due to decreasing habitat.Some of my earliest memories of growing up in northern San Diego's coastal communities are visions of unparalleled color, swarming about the beaches and hillsides. Like a single entity, the breathtaking fluidity of these formless waves swarmed southward—a perfect vision of nature's artistic and fantastic talents. Stragglers flitted about my hands, tickling my face like gentle eyelashes; I was another transitory image in their breathtaking journey.
As the beautiful monarch butterflies embark on their extraordinary migration, traveling from Mexico north to lay their eggs, illegal logging syndicates threaten to destroy the forest that serves as their winter sanctuary. These butterflies' amazing 3000 mile journey from Canada to Mexico may prove to be in vain in years to come, if action is not taken to preserve the federally-protected Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, approximately 80 miles west of Mexico City in Central Mexico.
Despite Mexican President Felipe Calderon's promise to crack down in February, illegal logging has continued, quickly destroying the perfect habitat these gentile creatures have known as home. Results from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Illegal Logging Report 2005-2006 indicate that deforestation rates are more than eight times higher now than they were five years ago. In a 28-year period study, researchers found that the average size of the conserved patches of forest decreased nearly 90 percent—from a stable 5,000 acres to a shocking, mere 500.
One by one, local villagers and concerned environmentalists are stepping up to the plate to speak out against illegal logging. Enraged by the destruction of this vital habitat and the civil strife it is causing in the region, the San Diego based non-profit ECO-LIFE Foundation has launched www.morethanmonarchs.org (www.masquemonarcas.org in Spanish). A unique online communications forum, the comprehensive website was created to support the efforts of indigenous communities to stop illegal logging practices in the region. Taking a grassroots front, the site integrates local unrest and larger, national interest in the environmental impact of this significant issue to prove that illegal logging is a humanitarian issue too.
Bill Toone, ECO-LIFE Foundation founder, stresses the importance of the site, "By making this issue public and telling the real story from the communities' point of view, MoreThanMonarchs.org hopes to persuade the Mexican government to enforce the existing laws set up to protect the forests. The wholesale theft of these trees from local communities can be equated to someone stealing from your long-term savings account, something most of these people can ill afford."
MoreThanMonarchs.org provides a one-of-a-kind platform for community leaders, villagers, government officials, and other interested parties to expose key issues surrounding the devastating environmental and social impact of illegal logging in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. What makes the site unique is how it leverages the communication power of the Internet directly for the communities, leaving no room for third party interpretation or distortion of their individual perspectives.
Visitors to the site can read first-hand accounts of the effects illegal logging has on villagers' natural resources and livelihoods. The documentation of issues through letters and the discussion board creates accountability for the local law enforcement and the Mexican government. Letters posted to the site by indigenous community members reveal that individuals who attempt to intervene and stop the logging are being threatened and coerced by armed logging syndicates.
A message board activist going by the name "Monarch1"said, "It saddens me to know that the winter resting place for this beautiful butterfly is in jeopardy and that people don't understand the long-term implications of mass destruction of these forests. As Carlos Castaneda suggests, we must interact sparingly with the world and our environment."
California resident Barbara Rogers wrote in a letter to the Mexican government: "I am very concerned about the illegal logging resulting in the exponential decrease in monarch populations over the past 10 years. Every illegal case that is reported should be investigated and no monies exchanged for "looking the other way." The other way is the way of death for not one species but for the entire human race in a few generations if we do not replace our thinking that everything is renewable and cleanable and repairable—no matter how long we wait and the damage we do."Agua Bosque of the agrarian community Crescencio Morales wrote of his childhood in the region, and how the butterflies impacted his memories, much like my own: "I remember my childhood, my community was very beautiful and the forest was filled with small trees, medium trees, and big trees. When I went by in the truck [in 1979] I looked at the trees as they moved and I thought they would fall on me."Bosque continued, "In 1999 the deforestation began strongly and no one could detain them for anything ä one time we tried to talk to our community leader about the ideas and together with him invite everyone in our community to continue to defend our forest, but he told us it was not necessary because they were already taking care of the forestä and would stop it, and since the community respected his words, we trusted him. With the passing of time, we realized that our forest was a disaster causing much sadness. In 2006 our forests [were] bald."Outraged by local events and reminded by memories of happier times, agrarian locals and Americans are joining together to protest the illegal logging of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.
To date, the Mexican government has yet to deliver on its promises to address these illegal activities and to take action against the illegal loggers.
If the site remains at the current rate of destruction, in 20 to 50 years from now the integrity of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve may be degraded to a point where it can no longer sustain the Monarch's habitat. Clearly, time is of the essence. "If we act now to enforce existing laws protecting the reserve, there is still a chance to salvage this habitat from irreparable damage,"Toone said.
For more information, please visit www.MoreThanMonarchs.org and show your support for these beautiful creatures and the community working so hard to protect them. Michelle Fletcher is a freelance writer, musician, and animal rights advocate. She is President of Fletcher Creative, a full-service writing and editing company. Visit Michelle at http://michellefletcher.net or email michelle@michellefletcher.net.