Letter from Estela Romero: Celebrations As Monarch Sanctuaries Open
Dear Friends,
There is much news from the Monarch Biosphere Reserve.
Sanctuaries Open
It is the local families living around the overwintering areas who protect and manage the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in terms of habitat conservation, guided, trained, and financed by the Mexican State. El Rosario is the largest Ejido within the Reserve with 261 Ejidatarios. Sierra Chincua (Ejido Cerro Prieto and Ejido Remedios) is smaller with only 37 Ejidatarios.
Last week, local community members and state representatives celebrated the opening of the sanctuaries with music, dancing, and painting. The 2023-2024 season has begun for all travelers, including monarchs. The first foreign visitors, from Italy, Japan, and other points around the globe, are arriving.
Monarch Behavior
Over the last two weeks, we have witnessed the gradual arrival of monarchs to the sanctuaries in Mexico. These incredible travelers are already forming large clusters on the Oyamel fir trees.
In the past, before ascending to the high-elevation fir forest, monarchs would first find resting areas near the towns of Angangueo and Ocampo. Many people in the area searched for monarchs in these traditional resting areas to no avail. We are all wondering what has caused monarchs to diverge from their previous migration patterns. Could it be that some of these traditional resting sites have been significantly altered because of illegal logging? Sadly, this year woodland areas such as El Cerrito in the Ejido of Angangueo no longer provided trees for resting and nectar for food. The main purpose of the logging of these sites is the sale of the wood by the ejido itself. Some areas are converted into avocado or corn plantations; others are simply left as grazing land.
Could migration patterns be changing due to climate change? Due to the short rainy season, the region now has barely acceptable levels of water and humidity for monarchs, to say nothing about the wildlife in the wetlands and streams. Mushrooms still sprout and the vegetation is green but now temperatures seem to increase too rapidly from 14-16 to 18-20 Celcius in no time.
Current Location
While last week the Monarchs seemed to define their colonies beautifully and in very favorable conditions, we had three days of a first winter storm with abundant and incessant rain and temperatures between 5-7-9 Celcius, causing the monarchs to disperse. After this storm, the colony in the Sierra Chincua Sanctuary was only one-fifth of its initial size last week.
Many people in the area remark that monarchs appear to exhibit an excess of activity. Called “Daughters of the Sun," monarchs can be seen during the day flying over Angangueo and heading west. In both sanctuaries, the monarchs have located themselves, at least for now, in spots much farther away than those they normally occupy on arrival. It can take up to 1.5 hours to reach them.
The Sierra Chincua Sanctuary Colony, located beyond La Casa del Japonés (19.6782259 -100.3012956), seems to have doubled to triple the butterfly population at this time compared to El Rosario. About 50 trees are already showing noticeable clusters.
Initially, the main colony of El Rosario Sanctuary was located at the site known as Los Letreros, (19.5634786 -100.2791634), and appeared small with at least 20 trees covered. Last week, the guides spoke of one more small colony, barely in formation. This week, the El Rosario Sanctuary is located at the Los Carrizales site (19.6031770 -100.2603728).
It will take a few weeks for the colonies to define their location and population.
Saludos,
Estela
Estela Romero is an Environmental Educator with Monarchs Across Georgia. Reporting from Angangueo, Michoacán, Estela Romero’s work is made possible with funding from Monarchs Across Georgia and the Monarch Butterfly Fund.
Translated and edited by Nancy Sheehan, Journey North Program Coordinator with assistance from www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
