Modeling Habitat Connectivity for the Monarch Butterfly among Protected Areas and its Significance in Conservation

In the US & Canada

• Establishing rule and guidelines to inform conservation efforts, such as the following:

  • (i) promoting harvesting regimes designed to restore ecosystem function and species composition

  • (ii) increasing milkweed propagation

  • (iii) inclusion of milkweed in habitat restoration, avoiding exotic plant species

• Supporting agricultural conservation programs that protect and restore habitat for monarch butterfly foraging, breeding, and migration (planting a mixture of milkweed and nectar plants for the different lifestages pfo the butterflies). 

• Decreasing harmful effects of insecticides.

 

In Mexico

• Protecting the monarch reserve's buffer zones and especially core protected areas from wildfires, illegal logging and agricultural practices, as well as tourism. 

• Implimenting effective law enforcement to avoid large-scale or small-scale logging in core protected areas

• Implimenting a long-term plan to conserve the area and surveillance along the migratory routes.