Monarch Diplomacy: Butterflies Begin Their Annual Migration across North America
Delicate and radiant Eastern Monarch butterflies have taken to the skies with shades of orange and black across the southern United States. Their annual migration from Mexico is underway. Beyond being a captivating and beautiful sight, Monarch butterflies are pollinators, and pollinators are vital to the U.S. economy, food security, and environmental health.
As Division Chief for Biodiversity in the Office of Conservation and Water at the State Department, I am responsible for a wide range of biodiversity-related issues — including wetlands, drylands, endangered species, wildlife trafficking, wildlife conservation, invasive species, parks and protected areas, migratory birds, and pollinators. The more time I spend focused on these issues the more I appreciate how important they are to our everyday lives — wetlands help clean our drinking water, for example — and just how interconnected the systems of our planet are to each other.
I spend a lot of my time working in United Nations and other international fora negotiating and collaborating with my counterparts from all over the world as we seek to protect and conserve the ecosystems and wildlife that keep the web of life — which sustains us all — healthy and productive. Earth Day provides an excellent opportunity to highlight one of my favorite issues in my portfolio, pollinators! In my personal life I am an avid gardener, and I had the good fortune to visit the overwintering grounds of the Monarch butterfly in Mexico a number of years ago. The Monarchs were so numerous that you could actually hear the sound of their wingbeats as they flew around — it sounded like a soft whisper in the wind.
We are now at the beginning of the 2016 migration of these amazing insects that travel up to 3,000 miles from Central Mexico to the United States and Southern Canada. Each year, Eastern Monarchs spend the winter in the forests of Mexico, where it is warm enough for them to survive, mating before they leave for the United States. A much smaller population of Western Monarch butterflies migrates along the West coast of the United States, overwintering in California.
As the female butterflies arrive in the United States, they lay eggs on milkweed plants and then die. Monarch caterpillars hatch from the eggs a few days later and eat the milkweed, which is the only food the caterpillars can digest, so it is critical to their survival. Over the next three to four weeks the caterpillars grow larger and eventually transform into butterflies. That newest adult generation of Eastern Monarchs continues the migration by flying further North and East, mating, laying eggs, and repeating the process, going further with each new adult generation. The fourth “super generation” of Eastern Monarchs is special and flies all the way back to Mexico, spending the winter there until it mates and returns to the United States to start the process again the next year.
Unfortunately, Monarch butterflies and other pollinators worldwide are in serious decline, largely due to loss of habitat and exposure to pesticides. In the Mexican overwintering grounds, monarchs cluster so close together on trees that they can’t be counted individually. As a result, scientists instead measure the size of the butterfly colony. In the 1970s, Monarch butterflies covered the trees in an area the size of 18 hectares. In 2014 — a historic low — they covered trees in only 0.67 hectares. Earlier this year, there was promising news that monarchs covered 4.01 hectares. However, a late winter storm struck Mexico and potentially killed many butterflies, though the impact remains unclear in part because some had already flown North.
Over the last several years the United States and its partners have made strides to reverse this negative trend in pollinators’ population. In 2014, President Obama and his Mexican and Canadian counterparts committed to ensure the conservation of the Monarch butterfly. That same year President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum on Pollinator Health recognizing the severe losses of many pollinators, including Monarchs, and created a Pollinator Task Force to help restore pollinator populations to healthy levels. In 2015, the National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators was released. One of its goals is to increase the number of Eastern Monarchs by 2020 so that they cover the trees over approximately six hectares in the overwintering grounds. In response, agencies across the U.S. government are working in partnership with non-profits and the private sector to increase habitat and raise awareness of the importance of pollinators. As part of my work at the State Department, I have contributed to these important steps to conserve Monarchs for future generations.
In order for Monarchs and other pollinators to thrive, individuals as well as governments need to take action. There are several important steps people can take in support of Monarchs:
· In North America, plant milkweed and other plants that are native to where you live.
· Worldwide, plant native plants to help pollinators in your community.
· Minimize or eliminate the use of pesticides, which can harm Monarchs and other pollinators.
· Spread the word that pollinators need our help and encourage your family and friends to become involved –- every little bit of habitat matters! Share our Facebook posts and tweets, which regularly post information and photos about butterflies and other pollinators.
Working together, we can protect this beautiful species and ensure its continued presence in ecosystems across North America.
About the Author: Barbara De Rosa-Joynt is the Division Chief for Biodiversity in the Office of Conservation and Water in the State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.
