Protect the Winter Forests
The whole eastern monarch migration depends on a few hectares of mountain forest in Mexico. One bad fire could undo years of work all along the flyway.
Why it's so fragile
All the monarchs, in a few forest stands
Every winter the eastern monarchs crowd into a handful of oyamel fir stands high in the mountains of Michoacán and the State of México. The thick canopy keeps them from freezing on cold nights and dry on wet ones. If the trees are thinned or burned, the butterflies lose their shelter.
After a record low of about 0.9 hectares in 2023–24, the colonies grew to 1.79 hectares and then 2.93 hectares in 2025–26. That's good news, but still fragile.
The fire danger
- The dry season runs from about February to May, just as the monarchs are getting ready to leave.
- Small villages near the forest often have little or no firefighting gear. Neighbors fight fires with shovels, branches and their hands.
- Drought, heat, land clearing and illegal logging make fires more likely and spread them faster.
- Every hour counts. Trained local crews with the right tools can stop a fire before it reaches the colonies.
Monarchs Without Borders in action
Training and equipping local bomberos
1. Training
Baja Bridges runs a live-fire wildland firefighting camp in Baja California, near Ensenada. Our goal is to bring volunteer firefighters (bomberos) from forest communities near the monarch reserve into this training in 2027, or to bring the training to them.
2. Donated equipment
Trained crews qualify for donated wildland gear. The plan is a donated truckload of equipment once training and transport are arranged, then yearly training and gear. A used fire engine from the U.S. is a three-year goal.
3. A 36-month plan
With local partners in Zitácuaro, we're mapping what each community already has and building a three-year plan for training, equipment and upkeep.
A new nursery near the reserve
Growing the forest back
Monarchs Without Borders plans a community nursery near the reserve to grow oyamel fir and other native trees, plus pollinator plants for the region. It will also store the bomberos' tools and equipment, so the community has one base for both planting and fire protection.
- Seedlings for reforestation, starting with tree donations
- Native pollinator plants for local gardens
- A safe place for fire tools and gear
- Room to grow into more community programs over time
How you can help
- Sponsor a bombero's training, travel and camp gear
- Donate wildland firefighting equipment through a fire department or service club
- Fund trees and supplies for the nursery
- Support groups already replanting the forests, such as La Cruz Habitat Protection Project and the Monarch Butterfly Fund
Along the flyway
