The Monarch Butterfly

Sharing a short audio-slide show about the monarch butterfly, whose ability to migrate every year from Canada to México is at serious risk. Experts say the corridor they use to fly north and south is becoming obsolete, for several reason, and could put an end to the monarch migration sooner than we think :

• Genetically modified crops and agro-chemicals in the US are killing the milkweed they eat
• Deforestation in the US
• Urban sprawl  in the US
• Climate change
• Mexico´s illegal logging in the forests where they hibernate during winter months.

It´s uncertain what will happen in the coming years when the monarch butterflies try to return via the US to Canada, where extremely cold temperatures are caused mainly by deforestation.

www.chicosanchez.com/monarch
(Photo © Chico Sanchez-All Rights Reserved)

Twenty years ago this beautiful insect was the symbol adopted by the North American Free Trade 
Agreement (NAFTA), a commercial agreement between Canada, Mexico and United States. These three countries signed environmental accords to protect migratory animals like the monarch butterfly, but today two decades later, the monarch butterfly is on the brink of disappearing.

This audio-slide show contains pictures taken at two Monarch butterflies sanctuaries: El Rosario in Angangueo, Michoacán in 2007, and Cerro Pelón sanctuary in Capulín, Mexico state in 2010-12 and 2014. Every time I go to a sancturary, there are noticeably fewer monarchs to photograph. 

The accompanying audio is the amplified sound made by the monarchs as they fly, a kind of buzzing sound,  without effects or distortion. This is how it sounds.

Bees and bats are suffering a huge decline as well. Nobody seams to react, and our society keeps using the same agriculture and industrial procedures that are destroying life on our earth. I hope this audio-slide show encourages people to look for information on how some big agro-chemical companies are causing severe damage to our planet earth, in the name of profit.

To see the audio-slide show click here: www.chicosanchez.com/monarch

Information consulted for this audio-slide show:
worldwildlife.org/species/monarch-butterfly
www.jornada.unam.mx/2014/01/30/ciencias/a02n1cie
www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas/2013/11/30/se-reduce-la-poblacion-de-mariposas-monarcas-que-llega-a-michoacan-7375.html
www.jornada.unam.mx/ultimas/2014/01/29/numero-de-mariposas-monarca-que-hibernan-en-mexico-cayo-43-7-este-ano-wwf-5020.html
bigstory.ap.org/article/monarch-butterflies-drop-migration-may-disappear-0
www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jan/29/monarch-butterfly-decline-mexico
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/01/140129-monarch-butterflies-mexico-animals-science-environment-migration-nation/
www.naftanow.org

On the Other Side of the Dream

(Photo ©Nicola "Okin" Frioli-All Rights Reserved)

I want to share "Al Otro Lado del Sueño" or "On the Other Side of the Dream," a series of portraits of Central American migrants traveling toward the U.S. by Italian photographer Nicola Okin Frioli. Divided in two parts, this project  helps us better understand the reason why those who migrate choose to do so, risking their lives in such a dangerous journey, and the problems they confront while moving north.

To visit Al Otro Lado del Sueño Part I click here.
To visit Al Otro Lado del Sueño Part II click here.

Its the second time I feature Nicola Okin in this blog, I shared also a serie of portraits of clowns you can see clicking here.

To know more about the work of Nicola Okin please enter here: www.okinreport.net

Father Alejandro Solalinde's Migrants Shelter

This audio-slide show is about why Catholic Priest Alejandro Solalinde decided to open the Hermanos en el Camino (Brothers on the Road) shelter which helps Central American migrants traveling across Mexico to the U.S., in terms of shelter, medicine and food.

Since Solalinde opened his shelter, he's suvived two lynching attemps, many death threats and the Mexican government recently assigned federal police to protect him like bodyguards.

You can enter the audio-slide show here:  http://www.chicosanchez.com/brothersontheroad

(Photo ©Chico Sanchez-All Rights Reserved)

           To see more of my audio-slide shows please enter this link: http://www.chicosanchez.com