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This in from Ipswich resident and friend of Pollinator PowerWorks, Katie Hone – the Monarch Gardener:
“This afternoon, March 6th, the World Wildlife Fund-Telmez Telcel Foundation Alliance (WWF) and the National Commission of Protected National Areas in Mexico (CONANP) announced the total population estimates of the monarchs overwintering in Mexico. First the good news!! It increased by a whopping 99%!
The total area monarchs occupied was 1.79 hectares or 4.42 acres. The monarchs were not all crammed into one big patch. This number represents the total area of monarch occupied trees across many colonies, hence it’s only an estimate.
As you can see from the graph below, this is still very much a low number. The 5th lowest since countring started in the early 1990s. And well below the 6 hectares scientists consider the lowest number ot have a genetically viable population.
These days I cling to any little tiny grain of good news that I can and I am focusing on the positive here and holding it close. An almost doubled population is more than I could have asked for. We still have a lot of work to do. It only makes me want to plant even more milkweed to keep this good vibe going.”
-Katie Hone, The Monarch Gardener
Consider planting more milkweeds in 2025
Katie Hone will be offering milkweeds and other native plants for sale starting on May 9th. (themonarchgardener.com/)
Check out our Resources Where to Buy Native Pollinator Plants and our Pollinator Plants Toolkit for other places to purchase plants and ideas for creating more habitat for pollinators.
