[Pollinator] Fwd: [MJV-Partners] Final results from Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count

Tue Jan 19 09:16:43 PST 2021

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---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: 'Sarina Jepsen' via MJV Partners <mjv-partners at googlegroups.com>
Date: Tue, Jan 19, 2021 at 7:13 AM
Subject: [MJV-Partners] Final results from Western Monarch Thanksgiving
Count
To: <mjv-partners at googlegroups.com>

Hello all,
Today, the Xerces Society announced the final results from the Western
Monarch Thanksgiving Count; the total count remains fewer than 2,000
butterflies.

Here is a blog about the results:
https://xerces.org/blog/western-monarch-population-closer-to-extinction-as-wait-continues-for-monarchs-protection

Here is a media release:
https://xerces.org/press/western-monarch-population-closer-to-extinction-still-no-federal-or-state-protection-in-sight

The data is available here: https://www.westernmonarchcount.org/data/

All the best,
Sarina

*Western Monarch Population Closer to Extinction; Still no Federal or State
Protection in Sight*

*Population that winters along the California coast hit a low of less than
2,000 butterflies—a 99.9% decline since the 1980s. We must take action now
to save the western monarch migration.*

PORTLAND, Ore., January 19, 2021---The Xerces Society today announced that
only 1,914 monarch butterflies were recorded overwintering on the
California coast this year. This critically low number follows two years
with fewer than 30,000 butterflies—the previous record lows—indicating that
the western monarch butterfly migration is nearing collapse.

The final results <https://www.westernmonarchcount.org/data/> from the 24th
annual Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count show a 99.9% fall from the number
of monarchs in the 1980s, when butterflies filled trees from Marin County
to San Diego County.

“In only a few decades, a migration of millions has been reduced to less
than two thousand butterflies,” said Stephanie McKnight, a conservation
biologist with the Xerces Society who helps coordinate the counting.

The Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count
<https://www.westernmonarchcount.org/> is a volunteer-driven community
science monitoring project that annually assesses the number of monarch
butterflies overwintering at groves of trees on the Pacific Coast of
California and Northern Baja. The count is coordinated by the Xerces
Society for Invertebrate Conservation and Mia Monroe, count founder and
longtime volunteer coordinator. This is the primary way that the status of
the western monarch migratory population is assessed.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic hampering survey efforts, volunteers visited
246 overwintering sites—three more than last year—ranging from Mendocino on
California’s northern coast to Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico.

“Volunteers rallied to make safe, independent site visits this season
realizing the data we each collect is especially important in this dismal
year documenting the monarch butterfly’s decline,” said Mia Monroe.

The iconic monarch overwintering sites at Pacific Grove, known as
“Butterfly Town, USA”, was one of several that didn’t have a single
butterfly this year. Other well-known locations such as the Pismo State
Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove and Natural Bridges State Park only hosted a
few hundred butterflies.

“These sites normally host thousands of butterflies and their absence this
year was heartbreaking for volunteers and visitors flocking to these
locales hoping to catch a glimpse of the awe inspiring clusters of monarch
butterflies,” noted Sarina Jepsen, Director of Endangered Species at the
Xerces Society.

The primary drivers of decline are loss of overwintering, breeding, and
migratory habitat in California, and pesticide use.

Unfortunately monarchs lack state and federal legal protection to keep
their habitat from being destroyed or degraded. A court decision
<https://xerces.org/press/court-rules-state-of-california-lacks-authority-to-protect-imperiled-bumble-bee-species-under>
in
November, 2020, deemed that terrestrial invertebrates (including insect
pollinators such as the monarch and bumble bees) cannot be offered
protection under the California Endangered Species Act. A few weeks later,
the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced
<https://xerces.org/press/much-needed-federal-protection-for-americas-beloved-monarch-butterfly-warranted-but-precluded>
that
monarch butterflies are “warranted but precluded" from listing under the
federal Endangered Species Act, making them a Candidate Species for federal
protection.

Western monarchs may lack the legal protection that would usher in
resources to help recover the population, but there are many things that
can be done to improve their chances. The Xerces Society along with other
researchers and partners developed the Western Monarch Call to Action
<https://xerces.org/western-monarch-call-to-action>. It provides five key
steps that if implemented quickly, can help recover the population. This
rapid approach aims to complement long-term plans such as the Western
Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) plan
<https://wafwa.org/wpdm-package/western-monarch-butterfly-conservation-plan-2019-2069/>.
There are many habitat restoration projects in progress right now to
enhance and restore monarch breeding and overwintering habitat in
California, but more are needed. Most urgently, overwintering habitat in
California needs protection.

The Xerces Society will continue to pursue protection for the monarch and
work with a wide variety of partners to implement science-based
conservation actions urgently needed to help the iconic and beloved western
monarch butterfly migration. Xerces will work hand-in-hand with farmers and
ranchers to find practical solutions to restore and manage pollinator
habitat on working landscapes and work with managers of roadsides, energy
infrastructure, forests, and grasslands to enhance current habitat and
create new habitat. Xerces will also continue collaborating with community
scientists and enthusiasts, other nonprofits, and researchers to magnify
each individual's efforts.

###

Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count Data:
https://www.westernmonarchcount.org/data/

Western Monarch Call to Action:
https://xerces.org/western-monarch-call-to-action

[image: cid:image003.jpg at 01D6EA67.11759D20]

Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count Data 1997–2020: It shows that despite
record volunteer effort, monarch numbers are at the lowest point recorded
since the count started.

Attachments area
*Sarina Jepsen*
Director of Endangered Species and Aquatic Programs, The Xerces Society
<http://www.xerces.org/>
*pronouns: she/her/hers*

Stay in touch:     *xerces.org <http://www.xerces.org/>*      *blog
<http://www.xerces.org/blog/>*      *twitter
<https://twitter.com/xercessociety>*      *facebook
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Xerces-Society/193182577358618>*
*instagram <https://www.instagram.com/xercessociety/>*
628 NE Broadway, Ste 200, Portland, OR 97232-1324, USA
Cell: (971) 244-3727
sarina.jepsen at xerces.org

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