The nationally renowned Monarch Joint Venture (MJV) partnership recently welcomed Cincinnati Nature Center to its prestigious collaboration and is excited to highlight the Nature Center’s innovative Milkweed to Monarchs initiative.

MJV brings together a select and broad coalition of partner organizations including federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academic programs that are working together to support and coordinate efforts to protect the monarch butterfly migration.

Right now, millions of monarch butterflies are overwintering in the transvolcanic range in Mexico, clustering onto oyamel fir trees situated in the mountains just north of Mexico City.

As spring approaches, monarch butterflies will begin to leave their overwintering sites and slowly, generation by generation, make their way back to the Midwest, including the Greater Cincinnati area. Along their way they will search for milkweed on which to lay their eggs. Newly planted milkweed in our area (a result of the Nature Center’s Milkweed to Monarchs seed giveaway in October of 2014) will be a welcoming sight for returning butterflies. It will take two to three generations for the butterfly to find its way north, culminating in a ‘super generation’ butterfly at summer’s end, which will ultimately make its amazing migration back to Mexico in the fall.

Unfortunately, fewer and fewer monarchs make this migration each year. Over the past twenty years, monarch butterfly populations have declined by an alarming 97%. These incredible creatures depend on the milkweed plant for their very survival. The female butterflies lay their eggs only on milkweed plants and monarch caterpillars only eat milkweed, a necessity for their growth and development into a butterfly.

With shifting land management practices, millions of acres of native milkweed have vanished from our landscape, leaving the monarch’s future as a species in dire jeopardy. Recently, the monarch’s drastic population decrease has warranted immediate review of its situation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for possible placement on the agency’s Endangered Species watch list.

In coming to the aid of the monarch last fall, Cincinnati Nature Center successfully launched its Milkweed to Monarchs initiative with the intent of raising awareness of the fragile plight of the species and promoting the widespread planting of milkweed in Southwest Ohio and beyond. With the help of the local media and concerned organizations including Graeter’s, Jungle Jim’s Eastgate and several dozen businesses, more than 60,000 milkweed seed packets were distributed free of charge to encourage the planting of milkweed in yards, gardens and open spaces. The overwhelming response to

Milkweed to Monarchs continues to gain momentum, with homeowners, schools, businesses, and horticultural and conservation organizations continuing to request seeds. In 2015, the Nature Center will continue to expand the program by strengthening community partnerships and launching its

Great Milkweed Seed Give-Away this Earth Day, April 22, 2015.

Cincinnati Nature Center preserves over 1,600 acres of protected and managed forests, grasslands, farms, ponds and streams for the purpose of visitor experience and education. In addition to habitat management and invasive species control on its land, the Nature Center converted 75 acres of abandoned agricultural fields to native grasslands, creating habitat for grassland nesting birds and pollinators, including monarch butterflies.

As a result of Cincinnati Nature Center’s efforts, a strong and coordinated effort throughout the state of Ohio will help support a robust network of habitat for monarchs and other pollinators in the region, and will help to promote a rebounding monarch population. By the small act of planting a few seeds, each one of us can ultimately make a difference in the big picture of the monarch’s future. For more information please visit http://www.cincynature.org.