Anonymous
By Sylvia Fallon, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
The western US population of monarch butterflies crashed this year. The eastern population experienced a welcome increase, but experts attribute this rebound primarily to favorable weather patterns rather than changed conditions on the ground and warn that continued efforts to reduce pesticide use and increase milkweed and other nectar sources are needed to ensure the eastern population of monarch butterflies continues above the threshold of collapse. Despite the continued concern about the future of the monarch population, the United States is likely to view this year’s news as a success and scale back its efforts to help the beleaguered monarchs. Instead, the US needs to do more—and the international community should hold them to it since the actions of the US threaten the internationally recognized World Heritage Site of Mexico’s Monarch Biosphere Reserve.
Several years ago, in response to the decline of monarch butterflies, NRDC and our partner organizations in Mexico and Canada sent a petition to the United Nations World Heritage Committee requesting that the Monarch Biosphere Reserve be designated as “in danger” due primarily to actions in the US that are contributing to the decline. Since then UNESCO (the international body that oversees World Heritage Sites) has intensified their monitoring of the condition of the monarch butterfly reserve requesting that Mexico submit reports outlining their actions to protect the reserve from various threats. For the most part, Mexico has responded by enumerating the actions they have taken to protect the site from threats within Mexico such as logging and potential mine development.
However, last year UNESCO conducted a site visit to the Monarch Biosphere reserve and determined that “loss of breeding habitat (milkweed host plants) in the United States of America” was a prominent threat to the reserve and the international body encouraged Mexico to continue its cooperation with the US and Canada “to minimize the loss and to restore the range of native milkweed species in the United States of America.” This is welcome news and exactly what our petition was designed to do—to draw international attention to the decline of monarch butterflies and spur action towards their recovery. However, all of the actions from UNESCO thus far have been directed at Mexico as the host of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve World Heritage Site, rather than the United States which is responsible for much of the decline of butterflies.
It may be an unusual situation that the actions of one country are causing the threat to another country’s World Heritage Site, but UNESCO should apply its influence on the country that is causing the greatest threat rather than just the country that hosts the site. The international parties that make up the World Heritage Committee will be meeting this Summer to review the status of the sites including the Monarch Butterfly Reserve. They should take this opportunity to draw attention to the actions of the United States and to call directly on the US to step up their efforts to reduce pesticide use and increase pollinator habitat throughout the migratory pathway of the monarch butterfly. The US needs to know that its actions are threatening a site that has universal value to the entire international community.
You can tell the Director of UNESCO to call on the US to take action to protect monarch butterflies here.
Pitmix I hope you’re right! At this point I get seed starts from only places I know for sure don’t spray (and try to support the local businesses, which is also important) mostly because I’ve actually witnessed employees spraying pesticides on labeled ‘organic’ starts in the nurseries of some of the big box stores… It was appalling, and I called them out on it.
What really got my goat is that they were spraying plants marketed as being for pollinators. What’s the purpose of a ‘butterfly plant’ if it kills them? Seems so forehead-slappingly-obvious but I don’t know if many people working in those corporate stores know any better, and may have just been following some training or instructions.
Ultimately I really don’t mind if the monarchs eat all my milkweed, I plant it for them, please don’t spray it with poison! Caterpillars need to eat, too!
Hi Pitmix! Make sure wherever you end up getting milkweed plants from (better yet, start from seed!) doesn’t spray the plants with neonicotinoid pesticides, which become systemic in the plant and are then in the nectar and pollen, which will kill pollinators like bees and butterflies. Its a common practice and you should check with the store. ACE and Home depot and K-Mart and Wal-mart all spray all of their plants with it, so try going somewhere where they don’t. May I suggest Island Seed and Feed, or planting seeds in your garden yourself?
BUG GIRL, please don’t write in orange; it is hard to read – and what you wrote is good advice.
However, I question whether the local ACE Hardware, Home Improvement on Gutierrez Street, sprays its plants with neonicotinoid. Some years ago they bought some milkweed that had been so sprayed —- and, apparently, were horrified and vowed to not do so again. It would be worth checking with them before criticizing.
In addition to Island Seed and Feed, it is doubtful that TerraSol applies poisons to its plants. Definitely worth checking with them about it.
fwiw, I have seen few monarchs in my yard this year, few, compared with last year.
As long ago as four years back I posted on Ed about Home Improvement selling toxic milkweed. I was at the H.I. store a few days ago and saw a raft of starter milkweed plants and no evidence at all of nibbled leaves or yellow aphids. The plants looked almost plastic in their appearance, they were so definitely loaded with pesticides. (You will ALWAYS have yellow aphids on your milkweed—–I am of the belief that they somehow work symbiotically with the weed. And you will see beetles seemingly nurturing the milkweed seed pods; all very UNharmful to the milkweed.) Don’t buy ANY plants from Home Improvement or Home Depot unless you absolutely don’t care if your plants (flowering ones, especially) will add toxicity to your garden. Start from organic seed if you can or else make sure to buy from Island Seed & Feed or a place which sells non-toxic plants. Knapp Nursery? Not sure. You’ll have to ask. For those of you who have a hard time saying “neonicotinoids,” you can just call them “neonics.” Same thing.
The EPA, under this administration, is a joke! They have hired hit men to destroy everything that they are supposed to be protecting! Foxes in all the henhouses. It’s a damned shame. If we don’t start voting for the environment, regardless of your party lines, be prepared to see horrific climate change effects immediately. It’s here. If you don’t belive me, read the fascinating and horrifying book “The Uninhabitable Earth” by David Wallace-Wells. He was on NPR just yesterday with a very scary warning. Please pick up this book.