MEXICO: World Wildlife Fund says climate change threatens monarch butterflies

Record ID: 303535

  • Title: MEXICO: World Wildlife Fund says climate change threatens monarch butterflies
  • Date: 17th August 2010
  • Summary: ANGANGUEO, MICHOACÁN, MEXICO (FILE) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) PANORAMIC VIEW OF MONARCH BUTTERFLY SANCTUARY VARIOUS OF MEN WORKING IN CULTIVATION FIELD NEAR RESERVE FIELD VARIOUS OF MONARCH BUTTERFLIES FLYING THROUGH RESERVE VARIOUS OF PEASANTS WITH COWS FOREST
  • Embargoed: 1st September 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Mexico
  • Country: Mexico
  • Topics: Nature / Environment
  • Reuters ID: LVAB785YPFB96WBQAWAAAJU73EYI
  • Story Text: Fabled monarch butterflies are facing a new threat from severe storms that have devastated sanctuary forests in Mexico, conservation groups said on Monday (August 16).
    The Nature Conservancy said in a news conference that storm damage in Mexico's 13,000-hectare monarch reserve is yet another blow to the fragile butterflies, which arrived in Mexico in record low numbers last season after a 2,000-mile journey from spots as far north as Canada.
    Illegal logging has long threatened the butterflies in western Mexico, where clouds of orange and black butterflies are a common sight during the winter.
    But the 117 hectares damaged this winter were due instead to torrential rains and heavy winds, Juan Bezaury, Mexico representative for The Nature Conservancy, told reporters.
    "The efforts are producing results and degradation due to tree felling has slowed but we're switching on a red light at a planetary level, as climate change can have negative effects on many conservation projects and the survival of people on earth," he said.
    The yearly journey takes four generations of butterflies to complete and millions of the insects swarm to these arid hills each year.
    February is typically one of the driest months in Mexico, but days of heavy rain, hail and sleet this year knocked countless butterflies from their perches.
    Many scientists blame recent extreme weather events on climate change caused by greenhouse gasses like industrial carbon.
    "This isn't just the responsibility of Mexico. Mexico has responsibility of being home to these hibernation sites but the monarch migrates from Canada, the United States and Mexico. And in those two, Canada and the United States, there's an impact on the habitat of the monarch butterfly due for example to pesticides which affect milkweed which is a plant that the monarch uses for food, it's changing land use and taking away, eliminating the habitat of the monarch. So it's fundamental that there is corporation between three nations. Mexico is doing its bit, Mexico is fighting against illegal tree-felling," said Omar Vidal, head of the World Wide Fund for Nature in Mexico.
    Mexico, the host of the next round of United Nations climate talks that begin in late November, has pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 50 million tons in 2012. It says sustainable forestry and reforestation will be a key part of its strategy for curbing carbon emissions.
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