By Alison Mitchell, Executive Director, New Jersey Conservation Foundation
Of the many butterflies in the world, none has captured our collective attention and awe over the years quite like the monarch.
Will we finally protect them?
Monarch populations in North America have rapidly declined, and in December, federal biologists proposed that the butterfly get protection as a threatened species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is holding a public comment period until March 12 to help decide if it should list monarchs as threatened and grant them protections. And they are asking for the public’s help.
This proposed rule builds on and enhances monarch conservation efforts. Today, the eastern migratory population is estimated to have declined by approximately 80%. The western migratory population has declined by more than 95%, putting it at a greater than 99% chance of extinction by 2080. During this same period, the probability of extinction for eastern monarchs is more than 50%.
Policies to protect the monarchs are not keeping pace with their decline. In 2020, the USFWS said it did not have the money or resources to protect the species even though it met the criteria under the Endangered Species Act. New Jersey currently lists this butterfly as a Species of Special Concern, a designation that affords virtually no protection but encourages monitoring.
Threats to monarchs include migratory and over-wintering habitat loss and degradation,industrialized agriculture, exposure to insecticides and climate change. Their migration is also in danger; if North American monarchs cannot successfully migrate and over-winter, they will go extinct.
Every eastern monarch butterfly that emerges from the chrysalis at the end of summer is programmed to travel south to Mexico, following landmarks along coasts and through mountain ranges for almost 3,000 miles. The generation that over-winters in Mexico stays in rare oyamel fir cloud forests that are very sensitive to climate change. The monarchs rest and mate until it is time to leave the wintering site and lay eggs.
Monarchs are part of a larger global trend in declining insect populations.
“The insect apocalypse is here,” says Sharon Wander, founder of the state chapter of the North American Butterfly Association (NABA).
Insects are declining generally due to habitat loss, industrialized agriculture and the use of herbicides and insecticides. A 2017 German study found that the number of insects wowrldwide had declined by a staggering 70% over 30 years.
A recent executive order from President Donald Trump, which declared an “energy emergency,” includes rolling back the federal Endangered Species Act. It is unclear how the USFWS will uphold that act, as mandated by Congress.
Two key steps individuals can take to change the fate of monarchs and other declining insects is to plant native flowers, shrubs, and trees that act as monarch magnets and avoid spraying insect-killing pesticides. Individuals who are part of an organization with scientific knowledge or just butterfly lovers can comment online at https://www.regulations.gov/ by searching docket number FWS-R3-ES-2024-0137.
To learn more, visit https://njbutterflies.org/index.html.
