STORY: Location: El Rosario, Mexico

Source: Mexico’s National Commission of Natural Protected Areas

Mexico's monarch butterfly population has fallen by 22%

Millions of these butterflies migrate to Mexico each year from Canada to hibernate

but fewer arrived during the 2022 winter period

Date: March 21, 2023

[Adan Pena, Head of National Commission of Natural Protected Areas]

"The area of forest occupied by the monarch butterfly between 2022-2023 is 2.21 hectares. This is more than the area occupied in 2020. In 2021-2022 we had an upturn due to weather conditions. In that sense, there were also some variations due to low temperatures and the climatic phenomenon that continues to affect this process, but these are the regular figures."

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has declared the species endangered

and says its population has fallen between 22% and 72% over the past decade

Experts blame climate change, pesticides, and illegal logging for the population decline