Good News for Monarchs

Finally, there’s some good news for the monarch butterfly. On February 9, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) pledged $3.2 million to protect the butterfly, whose population has suffered in recent years. This FWS initiative will fund conservation projects all over the United States. “We can save the monarch butterfly in North America, but only if we act quickly and together,” said FWS director Dan Ashe.

Threats to Monarchs

In 1996, there were an estimated 1 billion monarch butterflies in the U.S. In recent years, that number has dropped by approximately 90%.

Monarchs face three main threats that have contributed to this decline: habitat loss, plant-killing chemicals, and extreme weather. The monarchs’ habitat in Mexico is protected. But people still illegally cut down trees, destroying the butterflies’ homes. Logging also thins the forest and causes temperature changes that make it hard for monarch butterflies to survive.

Monarch habitats are also disappearing because of a growing demand for crops such as soybeans and corn. Rising prices have caused farmers to grow more of the crops. To protect their crops, farmers use pesticides, which kill bugs, and herbicides, which destroy unwanted vegetation, including the plant milkweed. For monarchs, milkweed nectar is a source of nourishment and protection.

Conservation Efforts

About $1 million of the initiative will go toward a conservation fund that will give grants to landowners who will work to conserve areas where milkweed plants grow. Monarchs not only use milkweed for their nectar, but female monarchs lay their eggs on the plants.

The remaining $2.2 million will restore more than 200,000 acres of habitat, focusing on an area of the U.S. between Texas and Minnesota, through which the butterflies migrate annually. This funding will also support 750 schoolyard habitats and pollinator gardens.

“If we all work together – individuals, communities, farmers, land managers, and local, state, and federal agencies – we can ensure that every American child has a chance to experience amazing monarchs in their backyard,” said NWF President Collin O’Mara.