Michoacán, Mexico - Monarch butterflies are arriving by the millions in Mexico - positive news for an iconic species whose numbers have dipped dramatically over the last decade.

Despite illegal loggers clear-cutting at least 24 acres (10 hectares) in the monarch butterflies' wintering grounds in central Mexico this year, the numbers of monarchs settling in Mexico far exceed the lows recorded the last two winters, according to conservationists at dedicated butterfly habitat sanctuaries in Michoacán and Estado de Mexico.

Writer and activist Homero Aridjis said the illegal logging went on unchecked between April and August and occurred in one of the most important areas of the reserve - the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the State of Michoacán.

A World Heritage Site, the Michoacán reserve is the largest preserved monarch wintering site in the Americas. "The property includes more than half of the over wintering colonies of the monarch butterfly's eastern population," according the reserve's website.

Researchers at the reserve say the butterflies are already covering nearly 10 acres - a significant improvement over last year's 3.2 acres.

But while conservationists at the reserve are happy about this winter's against-all-odds monarch populations, some are voicing concerns with the allocation of funding earmarked for the protection of vital butterfly habitat.

"Elitist non-governmental organizations make use of alarming data in order to collect more donations, of which we see just a tiny portion," local politician Homero Gomez Gonzalez told El Universal. "[NGOs like] the World Wildlife Fund, Alternar, Biocenosis and Pronatura keep all the resources from donations, and we see only a meager proportion of 2 or 3 percent applied to the preservation of the sanctuary."

In addition to deforestation and under funding at the reserves, the monarch butterfly's existence is threatened by pesticides, commercial farming, global warming and other environmental issues.