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Mexican Aid to Protect Monarchs

Calderon promises funds to stem illegal logging in butterflies' habitat

By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 26, 2007 6:10 AM CST

(Newser) – The famous migrating monarch butterflies have a new ally in Mexican President Felipe Calderon, who yesterday said he would devote $4.6 million more to the central Mexican reserve where the butterflies hibernate—and crack down on the illegal logging that threatens the insects' habitat. Calderon hopes the measure will nurture tourism income as well as the environment, reports the AP.

Millions of orange-and-black monarchs make the 3,400-mile yearly commute from Canada and the US to their winter home in the Mexican mountains. The popular insects aren't endangered, but their migratory pattern is unique and draws tourists as well as scientists to the 124,000-acre "Mecca of the whole insect world."

Mexican President Felipe Calderon, second from right,  his wife, Margarita Zavala, third from right, and their son, Luis Felipe, right, have their picture taken while talking to land owners at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the town of Cerro Prieto in central Mexico, Sunday Nov. 25, 2007. Calderon announced...
Mexican President Felipe Calderon, second from right, his wife, Margarita Zavala, third from right, and their son, Luis Felipe, right, have their picture taken while talking to land owners at the Monarch...   (Associated Press)
A Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) stops in Tyler, Texas on Friday, Sept. 21, 2007 to drink nectar from a Lantana bush, on its Southward migration back to Mexico for the winter. (AP Photo/Dr. Scott M. Lieberman)
A Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) stops in Tyler, Texas on Friday, Sept. 21, 2007 to drink nectar from a Lantana bush, on its Southward migration back to Mexico for the winter. (AP Photo/Dr. Scott...   (Associated Press)
A Monarch butterfly enjoys the nectar of some blooming asters on a roadside in Streetsboro, Ohio on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)
A Monarch butterfly enjoys the nectar of some blooming asters on a roadside in Streetsboro, Ohio on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)   (Associated Press)
Thousands of monarch butterflies hang from a tree brach at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the central Mexican town of Cerro Prieto, Sunday Nov. 25, 2007. Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced a plan to pump pesos into a monarch butterfly reserve to boost tourism in an impoverished area where...
Thousands of monarch butterflies hang from a tree brach at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the central Mexican town of Cerro Prieto, Sunday Nov. 25, 2007. Mexican President Felipe Calderon...   (Associated Press)
A couple of monarch butterflies are seen on a tree at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the central Mexican town of Cerro Prieto, Sunday Nov. 25, 2007. Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced a plan to pump pesos into a monarch butterfly reserve to boost tourism in an impoverished area...
A couple of monarch butterflies are seen on a tree at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the central Mexican town of Cerro Prieto, Sunday Nov. 25, 2007. Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced...   (Associated Press)
A couple of monarch butterflies are seen on a tree at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the central Mexican town of Cerro Prieto, Sunday Nov. 25, 2007. Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced a plan to pump pesos into a monarch butterfly reserve to boost tourism in an impoverished area...
A couple of monarch butterflies are seen on a tree at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the central Mexican town of Cerro Prieto, Sunday Nov. 25, 2007. Mexican President Felipe Calderon announced...   (Associated Press)
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