Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): prairie

Monarch butterflies are migrating in large numbers, with support from some unlikely allies

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: November 1, 2018

Monarch butterflies fueled on recently planted prairie habitat on hog farms in Missouri this summer before beginning their annual fall migration south.

You may have noticed more monarch butterflies than usual this year. There’s a reason for that.

Researchers are finding that monarch populations are at the fourth highest level since 1993 – making this year’s population currently migrating south for the winter one of the highest of the past 25 years.

That’s great news for the beloved orange and black butterfly, which has faced a 95 percent population decline since the 1980s. This dramatic loss has been driven largely by increased applications of herbicides across the agricultural landscape, and additional threats posed by extreme weather and climate change.

But citizens, conservationists and even some forward-thinking companies are highly motivated to help recover the monarch before it’s too late.

Posted in Wildlife Protection / Also tagged biogas, biomass, carbon sequestration, conservation, Endangered Species Act, hog production, manure management, methane, monarch butterfly, Partnerships, pollinators, renewable energy, Roeslein Alternative Energy, Smithfield Foods, wildlife | Read 1 Response

Unlikely allies are crowdsourcing funding and habitat to save the monarch butterfly

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: March 1, 2018

The monarch butterfly has a new chance at recovery, thanks to the launch of the Monarch Butterfly Habitat Exchange and inspiring commitments from early participants.

The Monarch Butterfly Habitat Exchange is an innovative market-based program dedicated to restoring and conserving high-quality monarch habitat on America’s private working lands. It’s been dubbed an ‘Airbnb for butterflies’ because it’s the only program of its kind that can open the vast untapped potential of large-scale farms and ranches to make habitat available for monarchs at an unprecedented scale and pace.

[Tweet “Powerful partners have teamed up to launch a groundbreaking program to recover the monarch butterfly.”]

Studies estimate that the monarch’s population has declined by 95 percent since the 1980s, and the butterfly faces a June 2019 deadline for an Endangered Species Act listing decision.

To change the monarch’s trajectory and avoid the need for restrictive regulations that often accompany a listing, we need to restore millions of acres of native milkweed and wildflowers across the butterfly’s vast migration route, fast.

Posted in Habitat Exchange / Also tagged conservation, environmental defense fund, milkweed, missouri, monarch butterfly, Smithfield Foods, Texas, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wildlife | Read 11 Responses