Raising monarch butterflies in fourth grade science classes may be a thing of the past as the steadily declining rate of North America’s favorite butterfly continues. 

Early spring in the forests of Michoacan, Mexico, the newest monarch butterfly population clusters in the branches to mate by the millions. Each fall the monarchs, which weigh no more than a paper clip, make their way through their 3,000-mile journey from Canada and the northern United States to California and central Mexico for their warm winter months. Steadily gaining traction in Mexico’s tourism industry, the North American migration has become one of the world’s natural phenomena, attracting people to take part in witnessing the inspiring journey.

Monarch butterflies, a crucial part of our ecosystem, belong to the important group of pollinator insects that allows people to enjoy the pleasures of beautiful flora and an abundance of food.  It has been said that monarchs are like the proverbial “canary in the coal mine” for pollinators.

They are easy to spot and since they share the same habitat as many other animals, it is evident that their decline is most likely synonymous with the decline of other important wildlife.

The National Wildlife Federation has estimated that the monarch population has declined in total about 80% in the past 20 years. Human-caused climate change and habitat loss are key factors that are pushing the monarchs toward a closely looming extinction. D. Andre Green II from the University of Michigan mentioned in The Conversation that the area of forest in Mexico covered by monarchs has fallen from a high of 45 acres in 1996 to 1.6 acres in 2014. California reported the lowest levels of monarchs ever in 2019.

Higher temperatures for longer periods of time are causing confusion within monarchs’ internal clocks on when to migrate and mate. The increase in temperature is affecting their flight pattern, driving them farther north than they would initially, and is being reflected in the size of the wings grown over the last few generations. Micah Freedman from the University of California, Davis, collected data samples from a variety of museums around the country, dating back all the way back to the 1870s. He was able to measure the average wingspan, finding in his research that there had been a consistent 4.9% increase in size over 150 years. 

Increasing carbon dioxide levels in the air are also a major issue, the consequences reflected in the food monarchs eat. The carbon may be making milkweed too toxic for the caterpillars. Milkweed is the only source of food monarch caterpillars are able to ingest, supplying them with a low-dose toxin, cardenolide, that helps fight against parasites and gives them a bitter-tasting deterrent against predators. In researcher Leslie Decker’s Ecology Letters, she grew milkweed in a greenhouse, simulating the carbon-rich air projected to happen in the next 150 years. In her research she found that the plants produced a different variety of cardenolides, rendering them ineffective in protecting future monarchs from parasites or predators and much more susceptible to die. 

But as scientist Orley R. Taylor says, “We have the capacity to save monarchs and other species. The question is whether we have the will to do it.” It seems as if the U.S. heard him because grassroots educational outreach programs, facilitated by public schools and citizen scientists, gained the attention of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, which created a top-down strategy called the Nationwide Candidate Conservation Agreement. It is essentially a business deal with corporate and private landowners to commit a portion of their land to dedicate to the replenishing of monarch habitat previously lost to land development. In return, the government will not place monarchs on the endangered animals list, waiving the harsher regulations that would otherwise have been established. 

This agreement is supposedly going to generate 2.3 million acres collectively of newly protected habitat. Even if the plan only generated 20% of the goal, that is still over half a million acres and a big step in the right direction. If the process succeeds, it could prove as a national and even global model to “bridge the differences of interests to achieve a common conservation goal.”

If you would like to help the movement there are many things that normal citizens can do on a day-to-day basis:

• Research types of native milkweed in your area and plant them in your backyard. It gives the butterflies a much-needed resting place during their migration and provides you with a beautiful butterfly garden right outside your window.

• Become a citizen scientist and help join the mass movement that is actively helping the progression of conservation advocacy. 

• Spread the word about climate change and its importance to everyone you know. The more that people are educated and aware, the more likely we are to band together and make impactful differences. Save the world, one person at a time.