Mexico’s Avocado Industry Harms Monarch Butterflies, Will U.S. Officials Act? (Commentary)

Monarch butterflies are returning to gardens across the United States, but a few months ago, I stood in a mountain forest in Mexico where the monarchs spend the winter. They clustered on trees by the thousands and when the sun hit them, they swarmed in a cloud of bright orange confetti.

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 second-lowest ever recorded.

I saw firsthand how avocado production is encroaching on the butterflies’ forests and draining their water supplies. The Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve is in Michoacán, the world’s largest producer of avocados and is where most of the avocados shipped to the United States come from.

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.