Conservation efforts sometimes conflict with the interests of local farmers, community-based landowners, private land owners and indigenous people.

In 1986, poet and founder of the Group of 100 Homero Aridjis convinced President Miguel de la Madrid to give the overwintering sites special protection, and the resulting presidential decree, published October 9, 1986, designated Sierra Chincua, Sierra El Campanario, Cerro Chivatí-Huacal, Cerro Pelón and Cerro Altamirano as protected areas for the migration, hibernation and reproduction of the monarch butterfly as part of the Monarch Butterfly Special Biosphere Reserve covering 16,110 hectares [39,809 acres].

In February, 2014, the Group of 100 and Make Way For Monarchs addressed a letter to President Enrique Peña Nieto, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking them to discuss the future of the monarch butterfly at the North American leaders' Summit to be held in Toluca, state of Mexico on February 19–20.

[citation needed] Sharing the blame is continued degradation of the monarchs' overwintering habitat in Mexico, where small-scale illegal logging is still rampant."

[citation needed] The joint statement released by the three leaders at the end of the meeting stated that "We will continue to collaborate in the protection of our region's biodiversity and to address other environmental challenges, such as wildlife trafficking and ecosystems at risk.

"[citation needed] In June 2016, more than 200 scientists, writers and artists signed a letter written by Homero Aridjis, Lincoln Brower and Ernest Williams and addressed to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in advance of the North American Leaders' Summit in Ottawa later that month, urging the three countries to work together to mitigate the loss of the butterflies' breeding habitat and to terminate all logging in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Michoacán and the State of Mexico.

[citation needed] Another notable piece of context regarding the MBBR is the disappearance of Homero Gómez González in January 2020, who was an important figure in the conservation of the butterfly.

[4][5] The reserve in Michoacán contains the highest elevations in the state, including peaks that reach 2,700 masl (metres above sea level).

[6] Scientists are concerned that the oyamel habitat in the reserve will shrink or disappear by the end of the 21st century, mainly due to climate change.

These include white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), coyotes (Canis latrans), long-tailed weasels (Neogale frenata), grey foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), rabbits (Sylvilagus spp.

), ravens (Corvus corax), turkey vultures (Cathartes aura), great horned owls (Bubo virginianus)(A), as well as various types of hummingbirds, reptiles and amphibians.

[10] The reserve areas are found in the municipalities of Ocampo, Angangueo, Zitácuaro and Contepec in Michoacán and Donato Guerra, Villa de Allende and Temascalcingo in the State of Mexico.

[12] While the Biosphere still has problems with infrastructure, especially with trash around parking and merchant areas, a number of improvements have been recently made, most notably in the sanctuary of El Rosario.

[4] Millions of butterflies travel south into Mexico, from Texas and then follow the Sierra Madre Oriental mountains to the preserve.

On the Mexico State side, the largest sanctuary is located between San José Villa de Allende and Ixtapan del Oro.

[13] Butterfly counts coming in from the United States and Canada in recent years were relatively stable in the 2000s, with a dozen confirmed colonies as of the 2007–2008 winter.

[4][6] Many of the protected hectares do not belong to the government directly, and the reserve is divided by a state line, which makes conservation efforts complicated.

Within the Biosphere Reserve in Mexico, the greatest threats to the butterfly habitat are deforestation, illegal logging, unorganized tourism, forest fires and lack of cooperation among various authorities.

[4] The main human communities in the area are Contepec, Temascalcingo, Angangueo, Ocampo, San Felipe del Progreso, Zitácuaro, Villa de Allende and Donato Guerra.

[6] Currently, the reserve area hosts economic activities, including subsistence farming, livestock raising, and the sale of handcrafts and foods to tourists.

[11] Reserves are visited by thousands of Mexican and international tourists, principally from the United States, Canada, Spain, France, Germany and Japan.

Many of the surrounding communities participate including Aporo, Contepec, Hidalgo, Irimbo, Jungapeo, Maravatío, Ocampo, Senguio, Tuxpan, Tlalpujahua and Zitácuaro.

[19] In 2010, the festival included the participation of the Symphonic Orchestra of Michoacan, The Enrico Caruso Ensemble, and the showing of an exhibition called "Papaloapan" about the monarchs by visual artist Luis Moro, as well as dance and photography workshops.

[4][6] Some public and private community entities have tried to incentivize forest conservation and capitalize on butterfly tourism, with mixed results.

Attempts at the usage of PES as an incentive to protect the forest against logging and human activities have failed due to the lack of local community empowerment.

The changes in land usage imposed by governmental and foreign influences have made the reserve less effective in its conservation efforts and increased the negative impacts on the local communities in the Oyamel mountains.

In her 2021 article, Gonzalez-Duarte combines historical and ethnographic data to critique the neoliberal agendas which have been exerted by big international NGOs over Indigenous lands.

"[3] Gonzalez-Duarte states that the presence of the UNESCO program and the neoliberal structures of Mexico and North America have "reshaped local, regional, global, and human-nature relationships in ways that have facilitated the expansion of illicit economies and violence"[3] in the Oyamel Forest.

The resulting borders are frontier zones in which neoliberal structures and governing systems have allowed "outsourced" violence to implement il/icit economic activities.

Gonzalez-Duarte notes that the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program (MAB) has inadvertently increased the risk of disappearance of both human and butterfly inhabitants of the reserve.