Environmental+Issues

__**Natural Disasters**__
Due to the its location, Michoacan is prone to natural disasters such as volcanos, hurricanes, and earthquakes. Volcanic eruptions that were set off by earthquake tremors between the years of 1943 and 1952 covered a great deal of the agricultural land in ash creating a land that was devoid of vegetation. A barrior of volcanic ash still covers soil in Michoacan making that land unfarmable. Winds and rains of hurricanes also leave much of Michoacan in distress. The famous Hurricane Andres of 2009 swept through the state leaving houses down and roadways flooded. Natural disasters are often the greatest enemy of Michoacan.

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[[image:turascaninfo/butterfly.jpg align="left" caption="Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary"]]__**The Monarch Butterfly**__
Another problem facing the forest areas of Michoacan is unsustainable logging. Along with exploitable forest, much of the forests have been made into sanctuaries for the monarch butterfly. Each fall season, tens of millions of monarch butterflies migrate from Canada and Northern America to the high-altitude forests of Michoacan and other parts of Mexico. Their journey is over 20,000 miles. The Monarch Butterfly Model Forest was established as an international network of model forests for the protection and conservation of the monarch butterfly habitat in Mexico. To protect these butterflies the Monarch Butterfly Model Forest has converted 133,400 acres in Michoacan and surrounds states into butterfly sanctuary.

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__**Resources**__
Lindig-Cisneros, Robert, "Unexpected Outcomes and Adaptive Restoration in Michoacan, Mexico: A Cautionary Tale from Sites with Complex Disturbance Histories," //Ecological Restoration,// vol. 25 no. 4 (December 1, 2007): 263-267.

Michoacan Reforestation Fund. "Monarch Butterflies, Impoverished People, and Oyamel Forests in Michoacan, Mexico." [] (accessed November 17, 2011).