This Butterfly Reserve In Mexico Preserves an Important Species—and Indigenous Culture

Each fall, hundreds of millions of Eastern Monarch butterflies undertake one of Mother Nature’s most awe-inspiring journeys, flying up to 3,000 miles from their breeding grounds in the United States and Canada to the UNESCO-listed Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in central Mexico, where they hibernate for winter. Nearly 100,000 visitors pilgrimage to the area annually to witness a forest canopy cloaked in orange-and-black wings.

Straddling the rugged mountains between the states of Mexico and Michoacán, the 138,000-acre reserve has around a half dozen public, community-run sanctuaries within its borders and in its buffer zones. Tourism dollars are an incentive for communities to combat illegal logging—one of the biggest threats to the butterfly habitat. But in recent years, a combination of deforestation and extreme weather has impacted the migration, causing butterfly numbers and their typical roosting window, from November to March, to be less predictable.

Without tourism, many small communities are also imperiled, said Olivia McKendrick, co-founder of Cultural Sanctuaries, a non-profit dedicated to protecting indigenous culture, language, and land. “These communities are seeing a reverse migration of young men leaving home to look for work,” she said. “The cultural erosion that results is as real as the erosion of the forest.” 

Last September, Cultural Sanctuaries, partnered with the Mazahua community to open Casa de la Cultura Mazahua in the town of Crescencio Morales. The center serves as a gathering place for the Mazahua to hold language, textile, and dance workshops for younger generations. It’s also a secondary draw for travelers passing through to visit Crescencio Morales’ new private butterfly reserve, which can only be accessed with a Mazahua community guide.

“Hearing the mass flutter of butterflies take to the sky is extraordinary,” said McKendrick. “But we need visitors beyond that ever shortening four-month window. We hope the center becomes a year-round hub for cultural interactions and education, and a jumping off point to discover the area’s incredible hiking, biking, and birdwatching.”

How to visit: The closest airport is in Michoacán’s capital, Morelía (MLM). Cultural Sanctuaries is working on building a homestay within the community. Until then, Hotel Jardín Rancho San Cayetano is a serene base in the historic city of Zitácuaro, about three hour’s drive east of the airport and another 40 minutes east to visit Crescencio Morales.