PEDRO MARTINEZ, TOUR GUIDE:

My father told me that in the past they didn’t care.

They didn’t think this butterfly migrated. They thought it was a plague.

Back then they had the permission to cut the trees where the monarch butterfly was because they thought it was an infestation. But that was many years ago.

For 20 years, this sanctuary has been providing tourism services. This is why we no longer cut any trees.

I’ve been a tourist guide for 10 years.

I took my dad’s place. He used to work here.

The butterfly travels 4,500 kilometers from Canada to these forests.

Since this is a big forest, the butterfly comes here to find a place to spend the winter.

Around three years ago [2014], not many butterflies came because of fumigation to the milkweed plant north from here in the United States.

This affects the butterfly because it lays its eggs there. So a lot of butterflies die there because of the insecticides.

It’s a really small animal that travels a lot. How it is able to go through so much, the journey, so many kilometers ...

So for us to protect the forest, I would like my children and even my grandchildren to be able to continue the work here in this monarch butterfly tourism center.