Monarch Butterfly Mariposa Monarca Monarque North American Monarch Conservation Plan (NAMCP) CEC Council Session 26 June 2008

Where are we coming from IUCN declared the monarch migration an endangered phenomenon in 1983 Breeding habitat loss and degradation in Canada and the US as a result of changing agricultural practices and the development of agricultural lands and open spaces Wintering habitat loss and degradation in Mexico: Loss of forested land in the region of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve from 1986 to 2006 Climate change: changes in temperature and precipitation will render overwintering sites unsuitable and breeding habitats are predicted to shift northward The monarch’s dependence on a wide range of habitats throughout the flyway calls for trinational cooperation During this slide, the presenter will explain why people care so much about this species. He or she will highlight the monarch’s complex life cycle, its phenomenal migration and interaction within the complex societies of the three countries, and its importance as a flagship species for trinational cooperation.

Where we are now The vision: Healthy monarch flyway and healthy monarch communities The instrument: A North American Monarch Conservation Plan Setting priorities: A continental map of threats, their intensity and trends Measuring success: Common guidelines to monitor monarch populations and habitats throughout the flyway In 2007, the CEC was instructed by Council to support the existing multi-stakeholder, collaborative effort to develop a comprehensive multi-party approach to maintain healthy monarch populations and habitats throughout the flyway, supported by a trilateral monarch butterfly sister sites network. Eight months after this direction, the Secretariat delivered the North American Monarch butterfly Conservation Plan (NAMCP), a consensus-based, multi-stakeholder strategy to protect the monarch butterfly, a strategy that addresses the multiple threats throughout the flyway while promoting sustainable local livelihoods.

NAMCP objectives Decrease or eliminate deforestation due to unsustainable logging and habitat conversion in the overwintering region Address threats of habitat loss and degradation in the flyway Address threats of loss, fragmentation and modification of breeding habitat Develop innovative approaches to bring economic benefits to local communities while protecting monarch habitat Develop and expand a North America-wide monitoring network to assess the condition of the monarch, its habitats and the impact of conservation actions The initiative to prepare a NAMCP was launched at the December 2006 Monarch Flyway Conservation Workshop in Mission, Texas, and subsequently endorsed by the Trilateral Committee and Biodiversity Conservation Working Group in May 2007 in Quebec City, Quebec. In June 2007, recognizing the need for an integrated strategy to address conservation in all three countries, the CEC Council, through Resolution 07-09, instructed the Secretariat to support the multi-stakeholder, collaborative NAMCP effort. The Plan acknowledges the need for additional ecological and socio-economic information to better protect the monarch butterfly and its habitats, while supporting local socio-economic development. The NAMCP provides an updated account of the species and its current situation, identifies the main causes of loss or decline and puts in perspective the ensuing current management actions taken in each country, as well as public perception of the species. Against this background, the Plan offers a list of key trinational collaborative conservation actions to be implemented, in particular, through a network of sister monarch sites.

An updated version of this animation will be available next Friday, June 6. This slide will –through, a google-map animation show the strategic importance of the sister-sites network. It will show “key” monarch aggregation sites by states and ecoregions, will overlay highly vulnerable areas due to threat intensity and trend, concluding with the pinpointing of places that maximizes the conservation efforts though the establishment of the sister-sites network A Journey North