Six Ways You Can Help Save the Monarch Butterfly

With their orange wings with black edges, migratory monarch butterflies make a miraculous intergenerational journey of more than 3,000 miles across North America, one of the most extraordinary natural phenomena in the world. This is one of the few migratory insects that travel great distances between its summer breeding habitat and its winter habitat. The Rocky Mountains divide the monarch’s population into two distinct groups: the Western population and the Eastern population.

In the spring, the Eastern and Western populations of monarchs migrate northeast and northwest, respectively, reaching the U.S. border with Canada. In autumn, both populations migrate to their wintering sites. The Eastern population migrates to the high and cold mountains of central Mexico, and the Western population migrates to the coast of California, where they spend the entire winter from November to March.

In recent decades, monarch butterflies have declined by more than 90 percent. They are threatened by climate change, excessive pesticide use, and habitat loss in their breeding, migratory and wintering grounds. Their habitats include, among others, native nectar plants and milkweed, the only food source on which monarch butterfly larvae depend to begin their life cycle.

The National Wildlife Federation makes the following six recommendations in support of monarch butterfly conservation:

1. Include the monarch butterfly as a threatened species, under the Endangered Species Act.
2. Reduce or eliminate, the use of pesticides and herbicides that directly affect butterflies and their habitats, milkweed, nectar plants, and wildlife in general.
3. Create a monarch friendly garden, planting milkweed and native nectar plants for the survival of caterpillars and monarch adults.
4. Encourage local authorities to be part of the initiative, Mayors ‘ Monarch Pledge, the National Wildlife Federation’s program that supports monarch butterfly conservation. From 2015 to date, more than 1,200 cities in the United States, Mexico and Canada are part of this initiative.
5. Call on Congress to pass the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act and the Monarch Act of 2025.
6. Participate in citizen science activities.

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