The monarch butterfly is sadly in decline, but your family can help make a difference! Here are 7 ways to be a hero to the monarch butterfly.
1 Get educated!
Come to the Mamaroneck Monarch Butterfly Festival on Saturday, 9/30 from 10 AM to 1 PM! Harbor Island Park will be filled with arts, crafts, activities, food trucks and tons of information on how to help this beautiful butterfly. It’s all FREE when you register here!
2. Plant milkweed!
Before monarch caterpillars turn into butterflies, they only eat milkweed leaves. Therefore, we need to be planting more of this crucial plant if we want the monarchs to survive.
3. Plant native nectar plants!
The same way that it’s important to ensure that monarch caterpillars don’t starve, we need to do so for monarch butterflies! Their diets tend to consist mainly of nectar from flowers, so be sure to be planting nectar plants native to New York wherever possible.
4. Ask your local garden center to stock native plants!
Not everyone has the money or space to plant flowers of their own so it’s always possible to reach out to your local garden center and ask them to take action!
5. Stop the spray!
Eliminate the use of pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides, as these are all harmful to the monarch butterfly! Additionally, mosquito sprays kill way more insects than just mosquitoes – butterflies, bees, caterpillars, etc. Therefore, it would best to avoid use of those as well.
6. Spread the word!
Any difference you make on your own will only be more impactful if you share it with others. Tell the important people in your life the importance of keeping the monarch butterfly alive and let them know how they can help.
7. Volunteer!
The Village of Mamaroneck Committee for the Environment welcomes volunteers at many of our native plant gardens. This fall we will be continuing the restoration of Rockland Pocket Preserve and hope to see you there!
Article by Michaela Loughran. Photo by Mandy Forlenza Sticos