Monarch Friendly City

Monarch Friendly City

During the 2017 Ecology Day, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue announced that it is now a Monarch Friendly City of the butterflyway program of the David Suzuki Foundation.

By signing the "Mayors' Monarch Pledge", Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue is now part of an international grouping of mayors and local government leaders committed to protecting populations in decline of this insect by contributing to the restoration of the monarch's habitats and to the education of the population in this effort, so that this magnificent butterfly could prosper again in Quebec and throughout the continent.

Butterflyway Program

Together, let's create a "butterfly effect" to save monarchs!

Did you know? Monarch butterfly populations have dropped to a historic low of just 33.5 million in 2013, compared with an annual average of 350 million in the last 15 years. One of the main causes of this decline is the marked reduction in North America of the only plant that can feed on the caterpillars of Canadian monarchs and on which females lay their eggs: milkweed.

Milkweed once grew abundantly in fields, along roadsides and on farmland. Today, it has disappeared in some areas due to agricultural practices and the use of large-scale herbicides, which has had a major impact on monarchs in North America.

These findings prompted the Suzuki Foundation to launch an awareness and fundraising campaign in the Toronto area in the spring of 2014 to create a milkweed "corridor" to ensure that the lack of milkweed in the country does not exacerbate the many challenges that monarchs in North America face. In total, more than 15,000 milkweed plants have been planted by citizens in southern Ontario!

In the spring of 2016, as part of a new "Butterflyway Program", the Foundation invited Quebeckers to take part in the movement by planting milkweed throughout their communities, gardens and parks. The seeds are available on the Foundation's website store.davidsuzuki.org. Thanks to their efforts, more than 250,000 seeds and 3500 milkweed seedlings have been distributed throughout Quebec!

You can also do your part to save the monarch butterflies by signing and sharing the Monarch Manifesto. The commitment you make is simple and comes with little things to do online and in your neighborhood that will allow us to help monarchs in North America by acting locally here in Quebec.

Let's unfold our wings together and create a true butterfly effect to protect the monarchs!

Want to do more?

Plant milkweed! Get seeds and seedlings through our online store: http://boutique.davidsuzuki.org

Become a scientist for a day! The Montreal Insectarium, an official partner of the Butterflyway Program, is currently conducting extensive scientific research,  "Mission Monarch", for the protection of the Monarch butterflies in Canada. Mission Monarch is a research project dedicated to monarch conservation through citizen science. Help scientists better understand the breeding habits of the butterfly!

Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue: Monarch Friendly City

25 February 2019

During Ecology Day and Naturally Sainte-Anne, on September 15, 2018 at the Morgan Arboretum.