Conserving, nurturing and protecting Earth’s natural resources future generations depends on what we do today. In our world we are currently living in a time where the official state insect of Illinois, the monarch butterfly, is a couple steps from extinction. At the end of July of this year the monarch butterfly was declared endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Our shared environment is incredibly fragile. We are not powerless to do something. Every action we take from this day forward to actively work with others to save our state insect will make incremental improvements.
It begins with education. This species of butterfly can only reproduce on a single type of plant: the milkweed. Luckily, we have many types of milkweed in Illinois, and many types of native Illinois plants that can attract pollinators and migrating monarchs. Tossing some milkweed on the side of the road, next to cropland, or in your own backyard will likely bring the milkweed to life naturally.
Making a butterfly garden is simple. If you have a sunny area and dirt to grow plants, you can make an attractive home for butterflies. If you want some ideas on how to start a garden for insects, flowers, or for growing healthy food start here by listening to this five step how-to guide.
Monarchs matter to our existence. The decline of migrating monarch butterflies from Illinois to Mexico has gone from billions to less than 60 million in twenty years. The decline of this insect and many, many other insects is an indicator our shared environment is serious trouble. Without action, we will not be able to recognize our environment in another twenty years.
The Illinois Monarch Project has great resources about how you can help, and a pledge to help with monarch butterfly conservation efforts to build better butterfly conservation practices in Illinois. Land and water conservation efforts will help as well.
