One of the most beautiful sights that I grew up with in California was the yearly Monarch Butterfly migration. Every year, millions of these beautiful and delicate butterflies would swarm over the city, enjoying the friendly gardens and enthralling everyone with their bright orange wings. However, each year that swarm has become smaller, so much so that scientists have noted that since the 1980’s, we’ve seen a 99% decrease in the Monarch population.
One of the main causes of this decrease is a lower amount of available milkweed. In order to combat this, the state of California along with a multitude of conservation groups are working together to redevelop the Monarchs milkweed habitat. As part of a million dollar state-funded project, the River Partners are working with nurseries across the state to grow, harvest and plant over 30,000 milkweed plants on over 600 acres of land. The Environmental Defense Fund worked to promote legislation that is helping private land owners develop milkweed on their property. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and Washington State University are monitoring all the data generated in order to maximize the impact of the restoration plans. There is even a virtual “Monarchs & Milkweed Conference” happening the first weekend in June, organized by SAMO Fund (Santa Monica Mountains Fund).
There are still more groups that are helping at all levels and show us the importance of working together and finding the right people for the right job. With this many hands approach, the future of the Monarch Butterfly is looking much brighter!
Hat tip: SF Chronicle
Michael’s Note: As you may notice, we love our pollinators! Check out our other recent flower forward post, Bee the Change!
