Monarch butterfly migration at risk due to deforestation, expert says

Mexico City — The migration of Monarch butterflies is in danger due to human activities, especially deforestation, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) reported on Monday.

Although the species is unlikely to become extinct, UNAM Ecology Institute researcher Carlos Cordero warned about the disappearance of the plants that the butterflies eat and deforestation in the forests where they live.

He said that the planting of wheat and other crops in huge areas of the US is destroying much of the natural vegetation, including the plants that the insects have evolved to consume.

That endangers their migration, which is a critical element in pollination.

Millions of Danaus plexippus, as the Monarchs are known scientifically, each year make the journey from southeastern Canada and the northeastern US to central Mexico to spend the winter months.

More than 90 percent of all Monarchs make the journey, and inevitably some of them die along the way, but - amazingly - most of the fragile creatures are able to cover the lengthy route.

The process is important because along the route of more than 5,000 km (3,100 mi.) the insects to play a crucial role in pollination of assorted plants.

UNAM says that 75 percent of the foods that humans eat rely on pollination by insects to reproduce and develop.

When they get to Mexico, the butterflies take refuge in the central state of Mexico and the western state of Michoacan, where their sanctuaries are located.

There are similar forests in both locations, but it is thought that they migrate to those sites because both the insects and their larvae find one of their main food sources there: the milkweed (Asclepias syriaca).

According to the latest monitoring performed in 2019 by the World Wildlife Fund , the number of Monarch butterflies increased by 144 percent in Mexican forests during their period of hibernation this year compared with last year.

This increase was due to the conservation work being done jointly by the governments of Mexico, the US and Canada.

Even so, Cordero said that “the three countries have to establish a plan to conserve the forests where (the insects) go and the plants that feed them on their journey.”