Logging Almost Triples in Monarch Butterfly Haven Mark Stevenson - The Associated Press
go to original August 26, 2015

Rainforest Connection: Old smartphones to catch illegal logging (Rainforest Connection)

Illegal logging has almost tripled in the monarch butterfly's wintering grounds in central Mexico, reversing several years of steady improvements, investigators announced.

Almost all of the loss occurred in just one rural hamlet in the state of Michoacan. Loggers cut down 47 acres (19 hectares) of trees in San Felipe de los Alzati since last year's gathering of butterflies, while little was lost in 31 other communities. A total of 52 acres (21 hectares) of forest were lost overall.

That's the highest figure since 2011, well above the 20 acres (8 hectares) lost a year earlier, according to the announcement by the World Wildlife fund and the Institute of Biology of Mexico's National Autonomous University.

...This year butterflies that reached the wintering grounds covered 2.79 acres (1.13 hectares), a 69 percent rebound from last February's 1.65 acres (0.67 hectare), which was the lowest since record-keeping began in 1993.

Read the rest at SunHerald

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!