Why Do We Care About Monarch Butterflies?

Think back to your childhood. What was the first species in your backyard or the empty lot next door that you actually knew by sight and by name? If you grew up in the United States or southern Canada, chances are the monarch butterfly was that first entry point into the wonders of nature. Monarchs are beautiful, regal and, for many of us, personal.

You probably didn’t even realize at the time that your interactions with each of those fluttering, orange-and-black visitors connected you with a single tree growing 10,000 feet up in the mountains of central Mexico. Over time, as you learn more about the monarch and its incredible migration, that personal connection to a slice of your backyard wildlife makes the fate of the forests in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt in Mexico matter a little more.

Monarch numbers have been decreasing for decades, as their habitat shrinks and gets degraded, both in their wintering grounds in Mexico and in their summer breeding grounds to the north.

Header Credit: Mike Bruscia

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