Join the International Monarch Monitoring Blitz

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July 27, 2020 by Kent McFarland

Join thousands of volunteers in Canada, Mexico and the United States, from July 24 to August 2, 2020 for the 4th annual International Monarch Monitoring Blitz. With limited ability to do field work due to COVID-19 restrictions, researchers need your observations now more than ever.

“We need a better picture of monarch distribution within its breeding range across North America, so every observation counts. Even if it’s from your own backyard.” said Alessandro Dieni, Mission Monarch Coordinator at the Insectarium/Montréal Space for Life.

To take part in the Blitz, submit your data to Mission Monarch. We encourage you to follow the Blitz on social media using the hashtag #MonarchBlitz!

“Monarch butterflies are a flagship species for pollinator conservation in North America and a symbol of international cooperation. Join others who are helping to conserve their spectacular migration by contributing to the International Monarch Monitoring Blitz,” says Katie-Lyn Bunney, Education Coordinator at the Monarch Joint Venture.

For one week, the Blitz invites people across North America to look for milkweed plants and survey them for monarch eggs, caterpillars, chrysalises and butterflies. This information will help researchers identify priority areas for monarch conservation actions. Data gathered during the Blitz is uploaded to the Trinational Monarch Knowledge Network, where it is accessible for anyone to consult and download.

For this year’s Blitz, we feel compelled to underline that your well-being, and that of those around you, comes first. Before participating in any activities, please look up and carefully follow the health and safety measures for COVID-19 recommended by the authorities in your region.

The Blitz is an initiative of the Trinational Monarch Conservation Science Partnership, created through the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). Through the Blitz, scientists from the Insectarium/Montréal Space for LifeEnvironment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Monarch Joint VentureJourney North, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, and Mexico’s Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas (Conanp) are asking the public to help them understand monarch and milkweed distribution throughout North America.