Every year thousands of monarch butterflies make a migration pitstop at Natural Bridges State Park near Santa Cruz in California.
They can be found in the heart of a eucalyptus grove, a short walk down a leafy boardwalk, behind Natural Bridges beach. It is a pleasant spot. The trees are fragrant and provide the monarchs with shelter from the wind from the months of October to March. When the temperature drops below 55F they cluster together on branches to form ‘roosts’ for warmth. When the sun warms the grove they go looking for nectar and water.
Visiting the monarch butterflies at this overwintering spot is one of my most treasured experiences from living in California. Each year the butterflies somehow find their way back to Natural Bridges. Remarkably the monarchs who will visit this season are the great, great grandchildren of the ones who arrived last year. A viewing platform, in the center of the woods, provides the crown jewel: unbridled views of the swarms of vibrant orange and black butterflies.
As I pointed out this unique nature display to my two-year-old son during our visit, I was struck by a feeling of wonder, but also sadness. In the past two decades, the number of monarchs has dropped from a billion to 30 million. Monarch populations are disappearing in record numbers. One day, sooner than we care to imagine, this beautiful spectacle may be gone. The monarch butterfly could be just one victim of a mass species extinction that scientists warn we are currently in the midst of because of human activities and manmade climate change.
A few decades ago, skies could appear dusky red as thousands of monarchs migrated in the US. But now things are pretty inhospitable for pollinator insects such as the monarch. Scientists and naturalists cite a variety of reasons for their demise, including, principally, habitat destruction. Monarch caterpillars feed and lay their eggs exclusively on milkweed, but the flower is rapidly disappearing from the countryside due to the overuse of herbicides, and the decline of the native prairie. The World Wildlife Fund also highlights fewer mating sites, extreme weather, and deforestation as factors that, year after year, are threatening the migration of the butterfly
It’s not just the monarchs who are struggling. Many insect populations have seen a sharp decline in numbers. It is estimated that somewhere between 75% and 95% of all flowering plants on the earth need help with pollination, according to non-profit organization Pollinator Partnership.
Earlier this year I asked Greenville mayor Knox White to join the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge, a tri-national partnership, between communities across the USA, Canada, and Mexico, to restore habitat and help the monarchs to flourish. Pollinator gardens provide vital feeding and nesting habitats for butterflies, and other insects. He emailed me back to say he would like to participate and the parks department are presently looking for suitable locations for pollinator gardens. The great thing about pollinator gardens is that anyone can build one, big or small, adding to a bigger ecosystem to aid monarch butterflies on their epic international journey.
Approximately 7,000 butterflies visited Natural Bridges State Park last season – 95% less than two decades ago. If you’re thinking about creating a pollinator garden, now is the time to plant one.
These small, fluttering insects do so much for us. Collectively they migrate 2,500 miles, pollinating the flowers and crops that give us food to eat. The least we can do is offer them a helping hand.
