Eduardo Carrillo checks the dense clusters of monarch butterflies roosting in a high-altitude pine tree forest. Thousands more blanket the forest floor, as he points to two that are mating. This is the Joya Redonda Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in San Miguel Atlautla, Mexico, some 50 miles southeast of Mexico City Nestled in the foothills of the towering Iztaccíhuatl and Popocatépetl volcanoes Now the circular sanctuary has transformed into a grassy clearing some 8,000 feet above sea level where countless butterflies zip around endangered oyamel fir trees we won’t see butterflies here.” according to the World Wildlife Fund Mexico But individuals like Carrillo are working to protect butterfly habitats Every Wednesday morning during the November to March migration season five members of the Atlautla Monitoring Brigade pile into the bed of Carrillo’s truck They journey an hour up a rocky dirt road from their small farming town to the sanctuary where they’ll camp until Sunday and protects their colonies from disturbances Joya Redonda’s butterfly colonies have increased tenfold recovering from a paltry four colonized trees in 2021-2022 “We’ve demonstrated what we can accomplish by monitoring human activity in the sanctuary,” says Carrillo ​​When Carrillo first encountered the migrating butterflies he was working for the National Parks Service “I had the great surprise of seeing the butterflies emerge from an enormous colony in a tree.” Thousands of black and orange wings took flight around him “It was something I had never seen before I fell in love with the monarch butterfly.” While Carrillo never finished high school “I began reading and requesting information,” he says When he had the opportunity to join the Atlautla Monitoring Brigade in 2015 The Joya Redonda Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary sits on the communal land of San Miguel Atlautla established in 1969 by presidential decree made thousands of these communal properties possible communal lands may be used for public or private purposes but only registered members (or comuneros)—531 in the case of San Miguel Atlautla—and their heirs can own and manage the land state institutions cannot manage the Joya Redonda Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary as only communal landholders possess that right federal institutions still help oversee the conservation of the sanctuary the National Commission for Protected Areas (CONANP) began to fund the Atlautla Monitoring Brigade Carrillo joined that same year and expanded the brigade’s activities “I became concerned with air temperature,” which affects the survival of the insects who had worked for the National Forest Service the group began carefully monitoring temperatures in Joya Redonda The most time-intensive task of the Atlautla Monitoring Brigade is limiting human and animal access to areas where the monarchs hibernate The brigade spends five nights a week in Joya Redonda to watch for illegal loggers that enter at night Camping also helps them save on the cost of gas as brigade funding lasts only for four months the group prepares for the monarchs’ arrival and oversees tourist activity through the winter holiday season the monarchs continue to hibernate in Joya Redonda until March Many brigade members continue on a voluntary basis: “Monitoring is what is required to protect the butterfly,” Carrillo says Joya Redonda has long been a multi-use community space and let their cattle graze in the crater—activities that are prohibited during the butterfly migration season In preparation for the monarchs’ arrival in November the brigade puts up yellow caution tape to prevent visitors from disturbing the butterflies This has created challenges for community members who rely on the forest In the massive, 348-square-mile Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR), some 80 miles west of Mexico City, criminal organizations have funded illegal logging, expanded avocado groves, and established drug laboratories. Environmental activists have been targets, including Homero Gómez the caretaker of the El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary who disappeared in January 2020 While Joya Redonda has not witnessed such violence there are nonetheless conflicts over how to use the communally-held space While assessing tree development during a round of observations in February 2023 Carrillo and David Bautista found cow dung on the ground Someone had let their cattle pasture in Joya Redonda on Monday and Tuesday “Joya Redonda doesn’t have much time left,” Carrillo says with frustration community leaders share concerns about livestock grazing and illegal logging activities but they marvel at the changes in the sanctuary locals join national and international visitors to see thousands of butterflies flying in the pine tree forests of Joya Redonda Members of the Communal Land Council charge 100 pesos (around $5.50) for access and are pleased to see tourism growing others worry about how more visitors will affect the environment Former director of the Atlautla Monitoring Brigade Tomás Bautista (no relation to Alejandro or David) sees “irresponsible tourism” as “one of the region’s biggest problems.” In 2016, Atlautla resident Tomás Bautista set out to educate his neighbors about monarchs and became a founding member of EcoMonarca EcoMonarca organizes the Monarch Butterfly Festival for Environmental Education which features talks and workshops about caring for water the streets of Atlautla fill with color as EcoMonarca commissions new murals Schools host workshops and the community receives dozens of visitors People of all ages participate in the community-driven project and children who take part walk away with a newfound appreciation for their role in helping to protect the butterflies For Atlautla resident Lucía Villanueva the monarch butterfly remains part of the Día de los Muertos ritual we have been taught to make our altar so that the spirits of our dead will come to eat and visit us My grandparents said that when there was a butterfly close to the altar it’s because the dead had just arrived.” monarch butterflies have become an important part of Atlautla’s community and identity expressed that caring for the monarch reconnects the community to traditions “that used to unite us as a people” and honor the interconnectedness of people with nature protecting the monarchs’ habitats while honoring the community’s right to the forest is a delicate balancing act the butterflies embody the hope that the two can coexist When he looks at the dense clusters of monarchs in the pines “I feel satisfied; I’m happy that they come it is incredible that an insect that weighs half a gram [0.01 ounces] migrates more than 5,000 kilometers [around 3,000 miles] Sometimes I simply can’t believe it.” We depend on ad revenue to craft and curate stories about the world’s hidden wonders Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month Follow us on Twitter to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders Like us on Facebook to get the latest on the world's hidden wonders.