"Maintaining the sensitive balance between the needs of the Monarch Butterflies and the needs of the people who share their Overwintering Area."

THE WONDER OF A NEW FOREST
In the forest, it is the trees that hold the system in place. By replacing the trees, we restore the system's foundation and lay the groundwork for a healthy ecosystem. We plant the trees to restore the soil and to allow dense forests to reclaim the cleared and damaged land. The seedlings grow from one to three meters a year, depending on the condition of the soil, which improves year by year. A new microclimate emerges. More birds and other animals start to return to inhabit the region. Serious soil erosion is reduced to only two percent. Water and air are cleaner. Trees capture carbon dioxide, producing oxygen to help offset global warming. The growing forest increasingly contributes to sustaining the microclimate necessary for successful overwintering of the monarch butterfly.

THE REFORESTATION PROCESS
Started in 1997, MRF and La Cruz reforestation projects help local ejidos and communities convert degraded cornfields back into the original pine and oyamel forest, a difficult task due to the deteriorated soil conditions and lack of shade. Once the trees take hold their growth rate accelerates, from one meter the first year, to three meters a year as the balance of sun and shade and quality of soil improve. Restoring the original forest in the buffer zones in and around the Monarch's Overwintering Sites is crucial to the survival of the butterflies, the health of the environment, and the well being of the local people, who in a few years be able to selectively harvest trees in a sustainable forest environment thanks to their participationin our programs.