Monarch butterfly overwintering colonies in Mexico and California are critically important and fragile, requiring dedicated protection during the winter period.
Mass mortality events at overwintering sites caused by storms that penetrate degraded forest kill millions of butterflies by freezing. Habitat degradation that exposes colonies to cold and wind is a preventable cause of this mass mortality. Community-based forest protection that gives local communities economic incentives to preserve the forest is both ecologically and ethically sound.