“It’s a harmony to come to these woods.”
Every August, eastern migratory monarch butterflies migrate from southern Canada to Mexico, where they hibernate until February. The eastern migratory monarch butterfly nesting grounds are located in the montane Oyamel Fir and native pine forests of central Mexico. These trees are uniquely suited to provide the climate and shelter that this generation of butterflies need to rest after their long migration and to survive the winter.
“We want the monarch butterfly to feel at home; that she is in a 5-star hotel.”
One Tree Planted is dedicated to restoring montane Oyamel fir and pine forests so they can help protect vital monarch nesting grounds, restore degraded lands, improve water filtration, protect vital ecosystem services for nearby communities, provide jobs for local members of the community and more! Thanks to One Tree Planted, they have been able to plant 2.5 million trees in central Mexico for the monarch butterfly restoration project this year.
In honor of World Animal Day, we sat down with Laura Johnson from One Tree Planted, to talk about all the amazing work they have been putting into the Monarch Restoration as well as a sweet story on how she came across Millie.
Can you tell us more about your project supporting the monarch butterfly habitat restoration?
Laura: “Yeah, so we have been working in Mexico to restore monarch butterfly habitats this year and we’ll be supporting this effort moving forward. And we’re working with several groups on the ground to do this work in different areas of Mexico. So this project focuses on both farmland conversion and forest restoration to improve biodiversity habitats in an essential migration corridor for numerous species, most notably the endangered eastern migratory monarch butterfly.
Also, many of our projects around the world focus on restoring habitat for wildlife and endangered species as well. So they’re really high priority. Some of the animals we’re working to protect the habitat for include the orca whale in the Pacific northwest, the chimpanzee in Uganda, koalas in Australia and the endangered Woolly Spider Monkey from Brazil, amongst many more.”
Can you talk more about the origin of One Tree Planted?
Laura: “Back in 2014, that’s when we were founded, we had noticed that there are so many different groups working on the ground in their local communities around the world who are working to restore habitats. So we wanted to be a hub that brought together and identified these really incredible projects that were making a huge difference in their communities and we wanted to be able to connect those groups and those projects to individuals and corporations who are looking to plant trees.
So this initiative was really founded to advocate for those small groups on the ground doing really important work, but didn’t necessarily have the capacity to access the funding that was available out there. So our goal is to partner with these organizations, build their capacity and help scale their projects to meet the need of global reforestation and advocate for what they need to to get the job done to do a great job and to grow their organizations and to support their local communities the way that they see fit.”
And how did you hear about Millie?
Laura: “Basically, a lovely donor of One Tree Planted who’s been donating to us for a few years now started a new role at a company that matches donations through Millie. He made us aware of the platform and that we were able to be found on the platform. He suggested that we update our profile, which we went in, and saw that there were lots of different things that we can update, impact stories that we can share, and photos that we can highlight.”
—Are you a nonprofit? Personalize your profile here.
What recommendations can you offer to social impact teams/companies interested in supporting your cause?
Laura: “Raising awareness on current events that are impacting us, like wildfire restoration and knowing that we are able to support people who are passionate about a particular issue – they can donate to the cause they care about.
We focus on storytelling and helping anyone who supports our cause understand their impact. We focus on certain events throughout the year, like earth month, climate week, plant a tree day, and wildfire restoration.”
For a full list of social impact holidays, subscribe to our 2024 social impact calendar here.
