Monarch Butterfly Biosphere

Reserve

ANA BARBARA ROMERO MUÑOZ

 On October 9, 1986, it
was declared a Protected
Natural Area for the
purposes of migration,
hibernation and
reproduction of the
Monarch Butterfly.

Some time later, it was

declared a World Heritage
Site by Unesco in 2008.
It is located to the east of
the state of Michoacán in
the limits of the State of
Mexico
 In the spring, these
butterflies begin an eight-
month migration that
takes them back from
Canada and the United
States back to Mexico,
during which four
consecutive generations
are born and die.
 The Purépechas
considered the monarch
butterfly, the soul of the
dead, interpreting its
arrival as the
announcement of the
visit of the deceased
because its arrival
coincided with the first
and second days of
November.
 FUN FACT: The
weight of so many
butterflies even
bends the branches
of the trees.