Mexico’s avocado industry harms monarch butterflies, will U.S. officials act? (commentary)

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8 Ways To Find The Best Web Design Agencies For Your…Every winter, monarch butterflies from across eastern North America migrate to the mountain forests in Mexico, but those forests are threatened by the rapidly expanding avocado industry.

I was surrounded by an unimaginable number of butterflies but also, I knew, far less than there should be. This year’s population was the The reserve is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where millions of monarch butterflies migrate from across North America and across generations to spend the winter. It’s one of the planet’s most incredible migrations. And it’s threatened by our love of avocados.

Avocado orchards like this one in Michoacan have replaced native forest and export 80% of their crop to the U.S. Image by Monica Pelliccia for Mongabay. While Mexico and the United States signed an agreement to stop deforestation to help fight climate change, Michoacán’s forests continue to be destroyed to grow more avocados. Because most of Michoacán’s avocado harvest is sent our way, the United States has a huge influence on the industry there. Mexican officials haveState, agriculture and trade officials need to put a mechanism in place to ensure that only deforestation-free avocados reach the United States.

 

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