Through the biological monitoring program at the Laguna Madre and Delta del Río Bravo Flora and Fauna Protection Area and Playa de Rancho Nuevo Sanctuary, the Conservation Program for Sustainable Development (Programa de Conservación para el Desarrollo Sostenible—Procodes), the Temporary Employment Program (Programa de Empleo Temporal—PET) and community watch program (Programa de Vigilancia Comunitaria—Provicom), monarch monitoring has been energetically carried throughout the Laguna Madre coastal region in Tamaulipas.

This work was made possible by training watch brigades on the application of the national standardized monitoring protocol. As part of the results obtained in recent years, passage and stopover sites have been identified and recorded within and without both protected natural areas, during the butterflies’ autumn migration, along with reproduction activities during the spring migration.

In addition to fostering collaboration with government and academic institutions for monarch butterfly monitoring across Tamaulipas state, the project also includes environmental education activities at schools and communities within the protected natural area, with the purpose of creating public awareness of the migratory phenomenon.

• Blanca Zapata and Christiane Lozano (2016), Laguna Madre and Delta del Río Bravo Flora and Fauna Protection Area, and Playa de Rancho Nuevo Sanctuary, National Commission for Protected Natural Areas (Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas—Conanp).