Monarch Butterflies Threatened by Clear Cutting in Mexico

An article in today’s New York Times describes how the millions of monarch butterflies that are spending the winter in Mexico are threatened by illegal logging activities. The article is based on satellite images from the NASA Earth Obervatory which show very recent clear cutting in the monarch’s breeding grounds. The images were taken by the commercial Ikonos satellite for the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Foundation, according to the New York Times.

The logging has been documented in progression over several years, showing how although the land is protected the forest and monarch resting zone is still being destroyed. Andrew Revkin’s article Loggers Invaded Butterfly Haven, Photos Show describes how important this land is to this amazing species and how the logging poses a threat to their survival. You can see photos of the clear cutting at NASA here. More on monarch butterflies can be found at Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Foundation and Journey North: Monarch Migration.

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