Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve

The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve is a conservation area and World Heritage Site within the wintering grounds of most of the monarch butterflies that migrate from east of the Rocky Mountains for up to 4,000 km south to central Mexico. The reserve is located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests ecoregion on the border of Michoacán and Mexico State, 100 km (62 milles), northwest of Mexico City. It is estimated that between 60 million and 1 billion butterflies arrive in this area alone any given year. While over 56,000 hectares are part of the biosphere reserve, the butterflies themselves only inhabit a fraction of this when they are in Mexico from October to March. The biosphere’s mission is not only to protect the butterfly species, but also to protect the ecosystem of which it is a part.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve