The Only Way to See Cerro Pelon this Season
Join us for a rare opportunity to experience the majesty of the monarch migration this winter. Participants witness the development of Cerro Pelon’s overwintering colony over the course of an entire season and support the conservation of their forest in the process.
Support Monarch Conservation in Mexico by Booking a Virtual Butterfly Experience
Our virtual butterfly experiences are the only way that you can enjoy the beauty of the butterflies of Cerro Pelon during the 2020-21 season. Because of Covid 19, the Cerro Pelon Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary is closed to the public. This decision, while epidemiologically sound, represents an ecological and economic disaster for this fragile habitat and its people. The monarchs need an intact forest canopy to protect them from the elements, and without butterfly tourism, illegal logging is one of the few jobs available to locals.
There’s still time to turn this situation around. When we started JM Butterfly B&B and ecotours eight years ago, it quickly grew into more than a just a business. We became one of the only sources of environmentally-sustainable employment in our community, employing 20 people directly and indirectly supporting 150 more who worked as guides and horse handlers on Cerro Pelon. Others earned income as drivers, housekeepers, cooks, and artisans; each of these workers supported many more family members.
We also founded and manage the forest conservation non-profit, Butterflies & Their People, which employs six full-time forest guardians on Cerro Pelón. 15% of proceeds from virtual experiences go directly to paying these workers to continue protecting the butterfly forest during this difficult time. The remainder allows us stay in business and continue supporting the people who depend on us so that we can be here next season when you can come back and see this rugged and remote natural wonder for yourself.
Bring sunshine and butterflies into your life on a regular basis during these dark days of the pandemic. While many communities are having a hard time during this crisis, abandoning this particular community endangers a historic site considered part of the patrimony of humanity. Your subscription allows us to continue our efforts to protect this crucial habitat, so that the monarch migration is still around for generations to come.
Click to read more about our experience options below.
Click to read about Adopt A Colony
Click to read about February Intensive
In-person visitors only get to see what the butterflies happen to be doing on the day that they visit—and monarch behavior is entirely dependent on the weather. Our virtual programming makes the full scope of the monarch colony’s activities accessible to all from the safety of home.
Subscribe now. Expect a confirmation email within a week.