This morning CBC radio news played the sound of what might have been rain falling on leaves as part of the hourly national report. It was, in fact, the movement of butterfly wings as millions of Eastern Monarchs awakened in their fir tree roosts in Mexico.
In recent years we've heard about the alarming decline of the beautiful Monarchs which migrate from Mexico through the United States to Canada every year. Thanks to efforts all along the flight path, habitat is being restored for the vital milkwood plants the Monarchs feed on, and numbers have increased. There has also been increased vigilance in Mexico to protect the mountain forests where the butterflies winter. The drug cartels have far-reaching interests and forests are illegally logged for timber and clearing for avacado farming.
The CBC story was about the disappearance of Homero Gomez, a 50-year-old agricultural engineer who manages the El Rosari Butterfly Sanctuary in Michoacan, Mexico. He was last seen Jan. 13 while attending a meeting in a neighboring town and the likelihood is that he has been killed because of his work and advocacy..This is a terrible development.
I have written about other environmental champions in different parts of the world who are harassed, harmed, and even killed for their outspoken efforts to protect the lands they inhabit and the creatures around them. Often they are acting on behalf of Indigenous peoples whose rights are trampled by governments and industrial interests.
I grieve for the family of Homero Gomez and invite you to pray for all those who demonstrate prophetic courage on behalf of Creation.
The day of Gomez' disappearance he posted two videos of Monarchs and you can see one in the article link below:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/homero-gomez-monarch-butterfly-activist-goes-missing-in-mexican-cartel-country
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