Conserve and restore the forests of the monarch butterfly biosphere reserve (mbbr) in mexico by working with 15 indigenous and ejido (communally owned lands) communities by addressing the impacts of…

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service under the Latin America and Caribbean Regional program (CFDA 15.640) provides $639,220 to Alternare AC, a foreign-owned non-profit in Mexico, to conserve and restore the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR). Key activities include:

• Placing 3,024 hectares of land under community-based forest management (698 ha in the core zone, 2,326 ha in the buffer zone)
• Reforesting 60 hectares in the MBBR buffer zone
• Training 30 local leaders on conservation and sustainable development
• Teaching sustainable production and natural resource management practices to 300 farmers
• Providing technical and marketing support to 75 families participating in 6 sustainable production projects
• Hiring a contractor to evaluate Alternare's leadership and sustainable development training program

This 2-year award aims to address threats to the MBBR from habitat loss, climate change, agricultural expansion, and land use change, while supporting sustainable livelihoods for local indigenous and ejido communities. The funding is part of the Fish and Wildlife Service's efforts to conserve priority species, habitats, and ecological processes across high biodiversity regions in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Conserve and restore the forests of the monarch butterfly biosphere reserve (mbbr) in mexico by working with 15 indigenous and ejido (communally owned lands) communities by addressing the impacts of habitat loss and the threats of climate change (increase in temperature, forest plagues, and fires, and reduction of precipitation), expansion of the agricultural frontier, and land use change. Through this two-year grant alternare, A.C. Will: (1) place 3,024 HA under community- based forest management (698 core zone, 2,326 buffer zone) (2) reforest 60 hectares in the buffer zone of the mbbr (3) train 30 local leaders on conservation andsustainable development (4) teach sustainable production and natural resources management practices to 300 farmers (5) provide technical and marketing support to 75 families participating in in six sustainable productive projects. And (6) hire a contractor to perform an evaluation of alternares leadership and sustainable development training program.