Mexico has seen fewer hectares (acres) occupied by the monarch butterfly during its latest hibernation in the forests of the nation’s central region, the head of the National Natural Protected Areas Commission, Luis Fueyo, said.

According to recent monitoring, during the 2011-2012 season a total of 10 hibernating colonies occupied 2.89 hectares (7.13 acres) of woodland in the states of Michoacan and Mexico, some 28 percent less than the 4.02 hectares (10 acres) the year before.