#monarchbutterflies — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #monarchbutterflies, aggregated by home.social.
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How to Plant a Drought-Tolerant Pollinator Garden From Native Shrubs and Perennials https://www.allforgardening.com/1772200/how-to-plant-a-drought-tolerant-pollinator-garden-from-native-shrubs-and-perennials/ #BlanketFlower #butterflies #FoodSource #garden #gardening #GettyImages #hummingbirds #MonarchButterflies #NativePlants #PollinatorGarden #pollinators
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Gardening Expert Gives 7 Reasons Why Planting Milkweed Can Transform Your Garden https://www.allforgardening.com/1771827/gardening-expert-gives-7-reasons-why-planting-milkweed-can-transform-your-garden/ #butterflies #FloweringPlant #garden #gardener #gardening #GrowingMilkweed #milkweed #MilkweedLeaves #MilkweedSeeds #MonarchButterflies #PlantingMilkweed
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#NoKings but #MonarchButterflies are splendid
Annual #Migration
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly_migrationAbout “Monarchs” (1874 +)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly#FirstNations
https://www.unesco.org/mab/50anniversary/en/mariposa-monarcaPlight
https://www.texasobserver.org/the-plight-of-the-monarch/Prairie Habitat
https://grist.org/solutions/the-guerilla-campaign-to-save-a-texas-prairie-from-silent-extinction/Avocado Capo / Forest Clearing
https://insightcrime.org/news/avocados-in-butterflies-out-illegal-logging-devastating-western-mexico/#art #illustration #peterkuper
https://www.peterkuper.com/ruins -
#ForestFriday #Scape Monarch Butterfly Grove in Pismo State Beach. Unfortunately, this is not the season, so no butterflies spotted. #ECK #MonarchButterflies #PismoBeach #WestCoastKin #EucalyptusTrees #FlyDay
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#ForestFriday #Scape Monarch Butterfly Grove in Pismo State Beach. Unfortunately, this is not the season, so no butterflies spotted. #ECK #MonarchButterflies #PismoBeach #WestCoastKin #EucalyptusTrees #FlyDay
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#ForestFriday #Scape Monarch Butterfly Grove in Pismo State Beach. Unfortunately, this is not the season, so no butterflies spotted. #ECK #MonarchButterflies #PismoBeach #WestCoastKin #EucalyptusTrees #FlyDay
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#ForestFriday #Scape Monarch Butterfly Grove in Pismo State Beach. Unfortunately, this is not the season, so no butterflies spotted. #ECK #MonarchButterflies #PismoBeach #WestCoastKin #EucalyptusTrees #FlyDay
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Monarch Butterflies Show Encouraging Recovery After Years of Decline
📰 Original title: A Rare Win for Nature: Monarch Butterflies Surge Back by 64%
🤖 IA: It's not clickbait ✅
👥 Usuarios: It's not clickbait ✅View full AI summary: https://killbait.com/en/monarch-butterflies-show-encouraging-recovery-after-years-of-decline/?redirpost=147b07ab-ed80-49aa-96b0-7257fe905dab
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Monarch butterflies in the forest of the El Rosario butterfly sanctuary in Ocampo, Mexico.
Photograph: Enrique Castro/AFP/Getty Images
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The worst April Fools prank ever because it's so believable. This is just the thing Trump WOULD do. #MonarchButterflies #Monarchs #MonarchMigration
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WWF: "Monarch butterfly population increases by 64%. Reports also show a decrease in forest loss within their winter habitat"
https://www.worldwildlife.org/news/stories/monarch-butterfly-population-increases-64-percent/#SolarPunkSunday #MonarchButterflies #BioDiversity #WildLife #Nature #Forests #Habitat #Butterflies #WWF
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As we watched, butterflies swirled all around us, at times tickling our noses or brushing our hair as they passed by. Not long now before these Monarch Butterflies living in the Sierra Madre Mountains in #Mexico begin their long trip back to #Canada. #insects #butterflies #nature #monarchbutterflies
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Spotted some #MonarchButterflies today at the nursery, enjoying some ‘Honeycomb’ butterfly bush. #SaveTheMonarchs #SaveTheButterflies
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The Old Coot spotted more Monarch Butterflies in his yard this summer, than in the past several years. #monarch #monarchs #monarchbutterfly #monarchbutterflies #butterfly #butterflies #nature #gardening #gardener #pennsylvaniagarden #pennsylvaniagardens #autumn #fall #migration
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https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/461016/monarch-butterfly-migration-new-york-city
I'm in this.
* Edit to reinforce that I am *literally* in this. I was interviewed for the article.
#MonarchButterflies #NYC #UrbanNature #HabitatGardening #HabitatRestoration #Ecology #NaturalHistory #VOX
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Our mission to locate a flutter of Monarch Butterflies in #Ontario #Canada started early in the morning, but it was not until the afternoon that we finally knew success. Prepare yourself to be dazzled as we were. #monarchbutterflies #nature #fall #migration https://frametoframe.ca/flutter-monarch-butterflies-toronto-shoreline/
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More pipelines = less of everything else.
Drought & record-breaking heat 'prohibiting plants from producing enough of the nectar that monarchs need to fuel their fall migration to Mexico'
#Canada #CDNPoli #ClimateCrisis #NoPipelines #GlobalBoiling #ExtremeWeather #MonarchButterflies
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Farmworkers Heal Climate-Scarred Land With #NativeSeeds
At #California’s #HedgerowFarms, specialists produce seeds to #revegetate burned areas, reestablish #wetlands, and transform drought-prone #farmland
By Caleb Hampton
July 7, 2025
"Quiroz and Gómez are seed-cleaning specialists and field workers at Hedgerow Farms, a native seed farm near the #CentralValley town of #WintersCA. Hedgerow’s collectors gather seeds from native plants in the wild, and field workers grow them out at the 300-acre farm to produce more seeds. This spring, neat rows of #mugwort, #PurpleNeedlegrass, and #CaliforniaPoppies sprouted in the midst of neighboring almond orchards, tomatoes, and alfalfa.
"Government agencies, tribes, and other land managers use the seeds to revegetate #FireRavagedAreas, transform #AbandonedFarmland, reestablish wetlands, and repair other damaged or altered lands, creating environments that support local #ecosystems and #biodiversity.
" 'We’re doing something for the planet,' Quiroz said in Spanish.
"Recreational areas have benefited too: Hedgerow Farms’ #SilverbushLupine grows in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and its #NativeGrasses can be found in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area outside Sacramento. The farm also supplies native seeds to seed packet retailers, helping sow #DroughtResistant plants and establish #pollinator habitat in #urban environments.
"Some projects, such as the ongoing restoration of the #KlamathRiverBasin in Oregon and California, involve billions of seeds — from various suppliers, including Hedgerow — spread across thousands of acres. 'Native vegetation is the foundation of a healthy #ecosystem,' the #YurokTribe said in a social media post showing #wildflowers blooming this spring in the scar of a former reservoir.
"After four dams were removed from the #KlamathRiver, the tribe began #revegetating the riverbanks last year, planting species such as #milkweed — a key food source for #MonarchButterflies — that once flourished in the watershed."
Read more:
https://civileats.com/2025/07/07/farmworkers-heal-climate-scarred-land-with-native-seeds/#SolarPunkSunday #FoodSecurity #RegenerativeAgriculture #Restoration #GardeningForPollinators #RestorativeAgriculture
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Farmworkers Heal Climate-Scarred Land With #NativeSeeds
At #California’s #HedgerowFarms, specialists produce seeds to #revegetate burned areas, reestablish #wetlands, and transform drought-prone #farmland
By Caleb Hampton
July 7, 2025
"Quiroz and Gómez are seed-cleaning specialists and field workers at Hedgerow Farms, a native seed farm near the #CentralValley town of #WintersCA. Hedgerow’s collectors gather seeds from native plants in the wild, and field workers grow them out at the 300-acre farm to produce more seeds. This spring, neat rows of #mugwort, #PurpleNeedlegrass, and #CaliforniaPoppies sprouted in the midst of neighboring almond orchards, tomatoes, and alfalfa.
"Government agencies, tribes, and other land managers use the seeds to revegetate #FireRavagedAreas, transform #AbandonedFarmland, reestablish wetlands, and repair other damaged or altered lands, creating environments that support local #ecosystems and #biodiversity.
" 'We’re doing something for the planet,' Quiroz said in Spanish.
"Recreational areas have benefited too: Hedgerow Farms’ #SilverbushLupine grows in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and its #NativeGrasses can be found in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area outside Sacramento. The farm also supplies native seeds to seed packet retailers, helping sow #DroughtResistant plants and establish #pollinator habitat in #urban environments.
"Some projects, such as the ongoing restoration of the #KlamathRiverBasin in Oregon and California, involve billions of seeds — from various suppliers, including Hedgerow — spread across thousands of acres. 'Native vegetation is the foundation of a healthy #ecosystem,' the #YurokTribe said in a social media post showing #wildflowers blooming this spring in the scar of a former reservoir.
"After four dams were removed from the #KlamathRiver, the tribe began #revegetating the riverbanks last year, planting species such as #milkweed — a key food source for #MonarchButterflies — that once flourished in the watershed."
Read more:
https://civileats.com/2025/07/07/farmworkers-heal-climate-scarred-land-with-native-seeds/#SolarPunkSunday #FoodSecurity #RegenerativeAgriculture #Restoration #GardeningForPollinators #RestorativeAgriculture
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Farmworkers Heal Climate-Scarred Land With #NativeSeeds
At #California’s #HedgerowFarms, specialists produce seeds to #revegetate burned areas, reestablish #wetlands, and transform drought-prone #farmland
By Caleb Hampton
July 7, 2025
"Quiroz and Gómez are seed-cleaning specialists and field workers at Hedgerow Farms, a native seed farm near the #CentralValley town of #WintersCA. Hedgerow’s collectors gather seeds from native plants in the wild, and field workers grow them out at the 300-acre farm to produce more seeds. This spring, neat rows of #mugwort, #PurpleNeedlegrass, and #CaliforniaPoppies sprouted in the midst of neighboring almond orchards, tomatoes, and alfalfa.
"Government agencies, tribes, and other land managers use the seeds to revegetate #FireRavagedAreas, transform #AbandonedFarmland, reestablish wetlands, and repair other damaged or altered lands, creating environments that support local #ecosystems and #biodiversity.
" 'We’re doing something for the planet,' Quiroz said in Spanish.
"Recreational areas have benefited too: Hedgerow Farms’ #SilverbushLupine grows in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and its #NativeGrasses can be found in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area outside Sacramento. The farm also supplies native seeds to seed packet retailers, helping sow #DroughtResistant plants and establish #pollinator habitat in #urban environments.
"Some projects, such as the ongoing restoration of the #KlamathRiverBasin in Oregon and California, involve billions of seeds — from various suppliers, including Hedgerow — spread across thousands of acres. 'Native vegetation is the foundation of a healthy #ecosystem,' the #YurokTribe said in a social media post showing #wildflowers blooming this spring in the scar of a former reservoir.
"After four dams were removed from the #KlamathRiver, the tribe began #revegetating the riverbanks last year, planting species such as #milkweed — a key food source for #MonarchButterflies — that once flourished in the watershed."
Read more:
https://civileats.com/2025/07/07/farmworkers-heal-climate-scarred-land-with-native-seeds/#SolarPunkSunday #FoodSecurity #RegenerativeAgriculture #Restoration #GardeningForPollinators #RestorativeAgriculture
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Farmworkers Heal Climate-Scarred Land With #NativeSeeds
At #California’s #HedgerowFarms, specialists produce seeds to #revegetate burned areas, reestablish #wetlands, and transform drought-prone #farmland
By Caleb Hampton
July 7, 2025
"Quiroz and Gómez are seed-cleaning specialists and field workers at Hedgerow Farms, a native seed farm near the #CentralValley town of #WintersCA. Hedgerow’s collectors gather seeds from native plants in the wild, and field workers grow them out at the 300-acre farm to produce more seeds. This spring, neat rows of #mugwort, #PurpleNeedlegrass, and #CaliforniaPoppies sprouted in the midst of neighboring almond orchards, tomatoes, and alfalfa.
"Government agencies, tribes, and other land managers use the seeds to revegetate #FireRavagedAreas, transform #AbandonedFarmland, reestablish wetlands, and repair other damaged or altered lands, creating environments that support local #ecosystems and #biodiversity.
" 'We’re doing something for the planet,' Quiroz said in Spanish.
"Recreational areas have benefited too: Hedgerow Farms’ #SilverbushLupine grows in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and its #NativeGrasses can be found in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area outside Sacramento. The farm also supplies native seeds to seed packet retailers, helping sow #DroughtResistant plants and establish #pollinator habitat in #urban environments.
"Some projects, such as the ongoing restoration of the #KlamathRiverBasin in Oregon and California, involve billions of seeds — from various suppliers, including Hedgerow — spread across thousands of acres. 'Native vegetation is the foundation of a healthy #ecosystem,' the #YurokTribe said in a social media post showing #wildflowers blooming this spring in the scar of a former reservoir.
"After four dams were removed from the #KlamathRiver, the tribe began #revegetating the riverbanks last year, planting species such as #milkweed — a key food source for #MonarchButterflies — that once flourished in the watershed."
Read more:
https://civileats.com/2025/07/07/farmworkers-heal-climate-scarred-land-with-native-seeds/#SolarPunkSunday #FoodSecurity #RegenerativeAgriculture #Restoration #GardeningForPollinators #RestorativeAgriculture
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Farmworkers Heal Climate-Scarred Land With #NativeSeeds
At #California’s #HedgerowFarms, specialists produce seeds to #revegetate burned areas, reestablish #wetlands, and transform drought-prone #farmland
By Caleb Hampton
July 7, 2025
"Quiroz and Gómez are seed-cleaning specialists and field workers at Hedgerow Farms, a native seed farm near the #CentralValley town of #WintersCA. Hedgerow’s collectors gather seeds from native plants in the wild, and field workers grow them out at the 300-acre farm to produce more seeds. This spring, neat rows of #mugwort, #PurpleNeedlegrass, and #CaliforniaPoppies sprouted in the midst of neighboring almond orchards, tomatoes, and alfalfa.
"Government agencies, tribes, and other land managers use the seeds to revegetate #FireRavagedAreas, transform #AbandonedFarmland, reestablish wetlands, and repair other damaged or altered lands, creating environments that support local #ecosystems and #biodiversity.
" 'We’re doing something for the planet,' Quiroz said in Spanish.
"Recreational areas have benefited too: Hedgerow Farms’ #SilverbushLupine grows in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and its #NativeGrasses can be found in the Yolo Bypass Wildlife Area outside Sacramento. The farm also supplies native seeds to seed packet retailers, helping sow #DroughtResistant plants and establish #pollinator habitat in #urban environments.
"Some projects, such as the ongoing restoration of the #KlamathRiverBasin in Oregon and California, involve billions of seeds — from various suppliers, including Hedgerow — spread across thousands of acres. 'Native vegetation is the foundation of a healthy #ecosystem,' the #YurokTribe said in a social media post showing #wildflowers blooming this spring in the scar of a former reservoir.
"After four dams were removed from the #KlamathRiver, the tribe began #revegetating the riverbanks last year, planting species such as #milkweed — a key food source for #MonarchButterflies — that once flourished in the watershed."
Read more:
https://civileats.com/2025/07/07/farmworkers-heal-climate-scarred-land-with-native-seeds/#SolarPunkSunday #FoodSecurity #RegenerativeAgriculture #Restoration #GardeningForPollinators #RestorativeAgriculture
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We’ve let our #CommonMilkweed go wild this year. We were starting to lose hope about seeing #monarchs but suddenly we now have 14 #caterpillars and have seen one adult today in #Indianapolis #Indiana.
So awesome to see them visit us!
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The Guardian: #Monarchbutterflies’ mass die off in 2024 caused by #pesticide exposure – study
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/01/monarch-butterflies-mass-die-off-pesticides -
In other news, the local #bumblebees have made a TREMENDOUS comeback here in York County, #Maine. Tons of #MonarchButterflies as well. I've been snapping pics of my bee buddies sampling all sorts of flowers in our yard. And they are loving the restoration of the meadow down the road!
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Checking monarch butterflies for OE protozoa.
🧪
.🐛🦋
#howto
#monarchbutterflies
#OE
#monarchwatch -
In other news... It's #Chompie season! First #MonarchButterfly #caterpillars were sighted in #CaliforniaFields today!
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In other news... It's #Chompie season! First #MonarchButterfly #caterpillars were sighted in #CaliforniaFields today!
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In other news... It's #Chompie season! First #MonarchButterfly #caterpillars were sighted in #CaliforniaFields today!
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In other news... It's #Chompie season! First #MonarchButterfly #caterpillars were sighted in #CaliforniaFields today!
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In other news... It's #Chompie season! First #MonarchButterfly #caterpillars were sighted in #CaliforniaFields today!
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Before and after...
#GrasslandRestoration #Grasslands #Maine #CaliforniaFieldsSome of the species that benefit from the tree removal and grassland restoration -- #GrasshopperSparrow #UplandSandpiper #NorthernHarrier, #HornedLark, #Kestrel, #Meadowlark, #Bobolink, #Bumblebees, #MonarchButterflies
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🦋 PSA: raising a few monarch butterflies in captivity can be rewarding and educational, but captive breeding and rearing monarchs on a large scale is bad for wild monarchs and does not help conservation!
Captive rearing spreads disease and parasites, decreases genetic diversity, and messes up efforts to monitor wild populations. Captive-bred monarchs are smaller and weaker, and they lose the ability to navigate—crucial for migration.
And it doesn't address the fundamental reasons for monarch declines—habitat and food loss, pesticides, climate change, etc.
More information:
- https://xerces.org/blog/keep-monarchs-wild
- https://xerces.org/monarchs/joint-statement-regarding-captive-breeding-and-releasing-monarchs
- https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/science/monarch-butterflies-captive.html (archive: https://archive.is/IHY5Y)
- https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/06/hand-reared-monarch-butterflies-dont-migrate/592423/ (archive: https://archive.is/8RGOr); see also https://www.monarchscience.org/single-post/i-debunked-the-study-that-tried-to-debunk-the-2019-captive-rearing-navigation-study -
Make a point to tune in tonight's #60 Minutes to watch the migrating #MonarchButterflies! It's not delayed by games tonight! -
El Rosario at the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, one of the protected areas in Mexico for overwintering monarch butterflies.
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Eastern monarch butterfly population nearly doubles in 2025
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It’s our last week for Indiana native plant preorders! Get orders in now to make sure you're ready to plant in May!
We have 100+ species available for preorder, including 5 species of milkweed and select species in one gallons!
As always, those who preorder will get first crack at the 200+ species at our main sale before we open to everyone on May 7th!
#nativehabitat #milkweed #butterflygarden #monarchbutterflies #pollinatorgarden #gardeningforwildlife #indianapolis #indiana #indianawildlife -
...and in the same vein as all these other research upheavals at various universities, UW has another one, so pay attention all you who report migratory species to #JourneyNorth --it's moving to #MonarchJointVenture. Yes, it's where to report sightings of #MonarchButterflies but it does track other migrations, milkweed sightings and other stuff. Here's the announcement:
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"My takeaway from this story is that all of us need to rethink using chemical pesticides at our homes and businesses. Even so-called organic pesticides like Bacillus thuringiensis, or BT, are highly toxic to monarchs and other butterflies.”—Pam Marino / @pammarino, #MontereyCountyNow https://www.montereycountynow.com/blogs/opinion_blog/monarchs-face-an-uphill-battle-for-their-survival-it-s-up-to-us-to-help/article_cf7fe0b8-e8d8-11ef-b7c8-9f30411eb64b.html#tncms-source=mosaic
#butterflies #MonarchButterflies #XercesSociety #MontereyCounty #MonarchSanctuary #PacificGrove #EnvironmentalProtectionAgency #EPA #CaliforniaDepartmentOfFishAndWildlife #CDFW #USGeologicalService #insecticides #fungicides #herbicides #PyrethroidInsecticides
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Speaking of #Rewilding, some new signs went up at nearby #CaliforniaFields in Southern #Maine! Looks like the #MaineDepartmentOfInlandFisheries finally acknowledged that there are some #EndangeredSpecies there, and put the pressure on #BlueTriton / #PolandSprings / #BigWater -- who had planted a bunch of pine trees in the field (to hide the drilled wells that they claim are "springs"). But now they have to take them down and restore the grasslands! (And it's full of #Milkweed which the #MonarchButterflies love!)
#GrasshopperSparrow #UplandSandpiper #NorthernHarrier, #HornedLark, #Kestrel, #Meadowlark, #Bobolink -
#LAfire #Topanga #MonarchButterflies #Monarchs #MonarchSanctuary
It's just been brought to my attention that there was a Monarch butterfly overwintering site, Lower Topanga, that was in fact ravaged by fire. Monarchs go into diapause for overwintering so it's not clear that they might have awakened and escaped in advance. Also check with the Xerces Society.
There is a map of all the overwintering sanctuaries at this link:
westernmonarchcount.org/map-of… -
#MonarchButterflies Might Soon Be Listed as #Threatened Under the #EndangeredSpeciesAct
If a new proposal is adopted, the insects would become the most commonly seen species to be the subject of federal protection under this law
Gayoung Lee
December 11, 2024"For generations, monarch butterflies have traveled thousands of miles across North America in remarkable, long-distance migrations. But like many other pollinators, human activity and climate change have cast a shadow over the future of these beloved insects.
"In response, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is taking a step toward protecting monarchs: The agency proposed listing monarch butterflies as threatened under the Endangered Species Act on Tuesday, which would extend federal protection to the species. The proposal will be subject to a 90-day public comment period before potentially taking effect."
#MonarchButterfly #GardeningForPollinators #EndangeredSpecies #ClimateChange #BorderWall
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I pass this property on Guelph Street often. Until a few years ago, that shitty stretch of lawn used to be a big cluster of juniper, bearberry, and milkweed. It was necessary food and habitat for monarch butterflies and other critters. Now it is a food desert for pollinators.
And that sign they have along the sidewalk is the meanest, most selfish sign I've ever seen directed to pedestrians. It shows they really don't give a shit about children and pedestrians.
And that last sentence about "these lands" is pretty fucking awful. These lands are on the Haldimand Tract. They're occupied, stolen lands of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabeg. These lands are under the Dish With One Spoon wampum, and this sign shows the people who currently "own" this property have no intention of honouring that treaty.
#kitchener #HabitatDestruction #ProtectTheTract #HaldimandTract #DishWithOneSpoonTreaty #wampum #MonarchButterflies #AntiPedestrian #CarCulture #Treaty @waterlooregion
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I got rid of my lawn and started planting a pollinator garden six years ago (#PandemicProject). It has been a true labor of love and for the FIRST time EVER I have two Monarch caterpillars! Hopefully the hornet's nest above it will keep the birds from eating them. Save the butterflies, save the world. (I love all my pollinators, but Monarch cats feel like SUCH an achievement). #Pollinators #NativePlants #MonarchButterflies #Maryland
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Did #AvocadoCartels Kill the Butterfly King?
#HomeroGómezGonzález put himself between a threatened species and #Mexico’s #avocado and #timber industries. Then he disappeared.
by Matthew Bremner
July 23, 2021"Gómez’s fight to preserve the forests had been tough, he’d told the international press. He said his work had been endangered by criminals, including illegal loggers and the cartel-infiltrated avocado trade. 'Gómez was probably hurting the interests of people illegally logging in the area,' Mayte Cardona, a spokeswoman for the State #HumanRights Commission of #Michoacán, told journalists shortly after his disappearance."
Original article:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-07-23/did-the-avocado-cartel-kill-mexico-butterfly-king-homero-gomez-gonzalezInternet Archive version:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210731125329/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-07-23/did-the-avocado-cartel-kill-mexico-butterfly-king-homero-gomez-gonzalez#ForestDefenders #JusticeForHomero #CriminalizingDissent #DefendTheForest #IndigenousRights #MonarchButterflies #Extinction #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice
#SilencingDissent
#CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists -
Did #AvocadoCartels Kill the Butterfly King?
#HomeroGómezGonzález put himself between a threatened species and #Mexico’s #avocado and #timber industries. Then he disappeared.
by Matthew Bremner
July 23, 2021"Gómez’s fight to preserve the forests had been tough, he’d told the international press. He said his work had been endangered by criminals, including illegal loggers and the cartel-infiltrated avocado trade. 'Gómez was probably hurting the interests of people illegally logging in the area,' Mayte Cardona, a spokeswoman for the State #HumanRights Commission of #Michoacán, told journalists shortly after his disappearance."
Original article:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-07-23/did-the-avocado-cartel-kill-mexico-butterfly-king-homero-gomez-gonzalezInternet Archive version:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210731125329/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-07-23/did-the-avocado-cartel-kill-mexico-butterfly-king-homero-gomez-gonzalez#ForestDefenders #JusticeForHomero #CriminalizingDissent #DefendTheForest #IndigenousRights #MonarchButterflies #Extinction #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice
#SilencingDissent
#CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists -
Mexico: defender of monarch butterflies found dead two weeks after he vanished
- Homero Gómez González was found floating in a well
- Activists say death could be over illegal logging disputesby David Agren
Thu 30 Jan 2020A #Mexican #environmental #activist who fought to protect the wintering grounds of the monarch #butterfly has been found dead in the western state of Michoacán, two weeks after he disappeared.
“#HomeroGómezGonzález, a former logger who managed #ElRosarioButterflyReserve, vanished on 13 January. His body was found floating in a well on Wednesday, reportedly showing signs of torture.
“The motive for his murder remains unknown, but some activists speculated that it could have been related to disputes over illegal #logging.
“Last week, authorities called in 53 police officers from the surrounding municipalities for questioning.
“Gómez González’s death comes as the murder rate continues to surge in a country where environmental defenders, human rights workers and community activists are routinely targeted for their work.
“President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised to halt attacks on environmental defenders, but the killings continue.
“‘This is a very regrettable act, very painful,' López Obrador said at his morning press conference on Thursday. 'It’s part of what makes us apply ourselves more to guarantee peace and tranquility in the country.'
“According to Global Witness 14 defenders were murdered in Mexico in 2018.
“Gómez González grew up in #ElRosario, a hamlet in the hills of western Michoacán, where monarch butterflies winter amid dense forests of fir and pine trees.
“Millions of the butterflies make a 2,000-mile (3,220km) journey each year from Canada to pass the winter in central Mexico’s warmer weather. But the forests and the monarchs are threatened by climate change and the incursion of illegal loggers and #AvocadoFarmers.
“A gentle man with a salt-and-pepper hair and thick mustache, Gómez González was born into a logging family according to a profile in the Washington Post.
“‘We were afraid that if we had to stop logging, it would send us all into poverty,' he told the newspaper.“But he eventually convinced others to abandon logging and protect butterfly habitats instead, figuring tourism would replace the lost income. The sanctuary is now a #UnescoWorldHeritageSite and federal law outlaws logging in the site.
“#GómezGonzález often posted mesmerising videos of fluttering monarchs to social media.
“In one of his last videos, shared on Twitter a day before his disappearance, Homero Gómez González stood amid a cloud of butterflies. 'Come and and see this marvel of nature! [The #butterflies] are lovers of the sun, the souls of the dead,' he said, referring to #IndigenousLegends about the migratory butterflies.
“Speaking to the AP, #HomeroAridjis, an environmentalist and poet who is a longtime defender of the butterfly reserve, said: 'If they can kidnap and kill the people who work for the reserves, who is going to defend the environment in Mexico?’”
#ForestDefenders #JusticeForHomero
#CriminalizingDissent #DefendTheForest #IndigenousRights #MonarchButterflies #Extinction #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice
#SilencingDissent
#CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #ACAB -
#IndigenousActivists are risking their lives for #butterflies
In #CentralMexico’s forests, armed community members defend an iconic butterfly from cartel-backed logging.
By Anjan Sundaram Dec 20, 2023
"Every winter, northwest of Mexico City, the branches of the Oyamel fir trees ignite in orange, colored by the wings of #MonarchButterflies that have made the epic journey south from Canada and the United States.
"The forest is home to the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, created by presidential decree in 1986 and designated as a Unesco World Heritage site in 2008. The reserve shelters nearly 90 percent of the region’s over-wintering monarch butterfly population.
"Despite the fact that the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve is internationally protected, decades of degradation of the forest have posed an existential threat to this fragile ecosystem. Over the past four decades, the number of winter roosting sites for the butterflies in the reserve has fallen by over 50 percent, driven in part by illegal logging.
"After researchers found that 10 percent of total canopy cover had been lost between 2001 and 2012, the Mexican government ramped up enforcement of laws prohibiting logging. Government raids on illegal sawmills in the reserve sharply reduced logging. Yet according to an analysis by the World Wildlife Fund, the rate of forest degradation in the reserve tripled in 2022.
"To protect these forests — one of the few remaining wintering refuges for migrating monarchs — the local #Mazahua Indigenous community in Crescencio Morales has established its own security force.
"As these self-described forest defenders from Crescensio Morales fight to protect the monarch butterfly’s refuge, Indigenous leaders took the global stage at the United Nations annual climate change summit in Dubai to wage this battle on a second front: to convince world leaders to recognize the dangers environmental land defenders, particularly in Latin America, face and to build stronger mechanisms to support them.
"Around the world, environmental activists face increasing violence
"As their weapons indicate, the world’s environmental defenders need defending. Every day, the councils of Crescencio Morales’ guardia comunales work in shifts, patrolling their community as well as the boundary of the Monarch Biosphere Reserve. They say they are threatened by #sicarios, cartel #hitmen, who also benefit from the #IllegalTrade, and are allied with clandestine loggers who camp in the surrounding forests. The guardia comunales run well-armed patrols through their territories to prevent the sicarios from expanding their territories and cutting down the precious Oyamel fir trees.
"These conflicts put environmental #activists at great risk. Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador has promised to stop such violence, but the country remains among the world’s deadliest for those defending its pristine ecosystems. In January 2020, the body of the anti-logging activist and monarch butterfly defender #HomeroGómezGonzalez was found in a community near Crescencio. Activists suspect his death was connected to illegal logging disputes, the Guardian reported.
"The pressures that Mexico’s Indigenous activists face are emblematic of similar conflicts arising globally. Communities like Crescencio Morales are on the front lines of a battle to protect their local environment from a mounting scramble for natural resources, amplified by corruption.
"Members of Crescencio Morales’s community told me that in addition to fighting the illegal loggers, they also protect their forested mountains from #mining companies seeking to extract #gold, #silver, and #copper — #minerals now in high demand as the world transitions to clean energy technologies.
Land defenders around the world — in countries including Mexico, #Brazil, The Democratic Republic of the #Congo, and the #Philippines — face increasing violence as they defend their territories, according to #GlobalWitness, an accountability nonprofit that studies the link between #NaturalResources, #conflict, and #corruption. A 2023 investigation by the organization found that nearly 2,000 #activists have been killed over the last decade for their efforts to protect the planet, many of them from Indigenous communities trying to preserve their ecological heritage."The majority of recorded killings of #LandDefenders in 2022 took place in #LatinAmerica, making the continent perhaps the most dangerous place for #EnvironmentalDefense.
"#IndigenousLands include some of the planet’s most threatened landscapes
"The Mexican constitution protects the right of Indigenous communities’ self-determination — which, among other forms of #sovereignty, allows them to govern their land communally. In 2023, more than 50 percent of Mexico’s land fell under these legal regimes, termed #TierraComunal or #TierraEjidal — which roughly translates to communal land. This, according to a study by the Rights and Resources Initiative, is the highest percentage of land collectively owned by Indigenous and local communities of any country in the #Americas.
"This unique aspect of #MexicanIndigenous heritage means that broad swaths of land in Mexico remain protected. Yet mounting effects from climate change as well as political and economic pressures mean that some of Mexico’s Indigenous communities have been forced to block highways in protest and appeal for help to protect themselves, their communities, their ecosystems, and their way of life.
"#Mexico’s unique legal regime is especially important for Crescencio Morales because it offers communities in the area, with deep historical and cultural ties to the monarch butterflies, the legal authority to protect the reserve. But the law can only do so much to protect the refuge and its migrating butterflies from illegal logging pressure.
"To prevent destruction of the Monarch Biosphere Reserve, Indigenous activists have taken their security and that of the butterflies’ precious trees into their own hands. When I visited Crescencio Morales earlier this year, I walked with a community policeman named Aurelio during an armed patrol along his community’s border. (We are withholding his identity and using a pseudonym to protect him from being targeted by local violence.) At the summit of one of the hills surrounding the community, Aurelio told me Crescencio Morales had been forced to arm itself to protect its people, butterflies, and #Forests.
"The security situation in towns such as #CrescencioMorales is complex. According to other community leaders I spoke with this year, who wished to remain anonymous due to security risks, the locals did not trust the army or the state police, which they often suspected of cutting business deals with the cartels. Armed security volunteers who protected the community from #taladores, the illegal loggers, patrolled their town in pickup trucks.
"These hyperlocal battles — on highways and in open warfare by the #GuardiasComunales — have larger stakes: Mexican Indigenous environmental activists are defending landscapes that have implications for global #biodiversity. Without their efforts, environmentalists fear systemic #deforestation from illegal logging, which would not only destroy habitat for vulnerable species but also increase the #GreenhouseGas emissions that further drive #ClimateChange. And without the preservation of the Crescencio Morales Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, an important chain in a migration that connects ecosystems from Canada to Mexico would be severed."
Full article:
https://www.vox.com/climate/24006471/cop28-rising-danger-environmental-activism#ForestDefenders #JusticeForHomero #DirectAction #CriminalizingDissent #DefendTheForest #IndigenousRights #Extinction #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #Fascism #DirectAction #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists
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Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) from Sierra Chincua, Mexico.
joelsartore.com/gallery/the-photo-ark/38/
@photography
#MonarchButterflies
#JoelSartore
#PhotoArk© Joel Sartore 2023
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I've seen a lot of folks recently posting photos of their #monarchbutterfly caterpillar enclosures and most look like the enclosures are indoors.
This is a #PSA to help get the word out (please boost!):
Indoor raised #monarchs are more likely to develop and spread disease to wild populations, AND are significantly less likely to successfully fly south for the winter.
"Being exposed to an indoor environment with artificial light, constant temperature and top choice of milkweed provided by their captors they do not develop the environmental cues needed for pre-migratory behaviors."
Please please do your part to help boost populations the way nature intended, with planting milkweed and doing what you can to protect food sources monarchs need, fully outdoors. Plant #native (to your area) nectar sources and please spread the word to others so their efforts benefit the ones we're trying to save.
#monarch #monarchbutterflies #BloomScrolling #nativeplants #pollinators #pollinatorgarden #milkweed #nativegarden #gardening #wildflowers #wildflower #caterpillars