Monarch butterfly overwintering colonies in Mexican oyamel fir forests face deforestation pressures that directly threaten the survival of billions of migrating butterflies each winter.
Monarchs clustered in damaged or destroyed overwintering forest face exposure to cold temperatures that can freeze and kill millions of butterflies during a single winter storm. The welfare harm from deforestation is both immediate — death by freezing — and chronic through reduced insulation and increased vulnerability to temperature extremes. Supporting Mexican community forestry programs that provide economic alternatives to logging directly protects the overwintering habitat on which the entire eastern monarch migration depends.