Get Involved

HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Anyone can make a difference, especially YOU

Plant native plants.

Use your yard to grow plants native to South Florida. (See Section on STARTING A BUTTERFLY GARDEN) Ask if you can make a garden at your school or other neighborhood areas.

If you are interested in helping Monarchs that are in serious danger, visit Monarch Watch, as they have tips for how to create way-stations, which are managed gardens that provide food and habitat for the butterflies, in home gardens, at schools, along roadsides, and on other unused plots of land. There are also instructions on growing milkweed independent of the program and ways to get seed kits to start your garden.

Avoid spraying plants with pesticides and herbicides.

Pesticides are not good for your plants; they kill delicate eggs and larvae.

Herbicides – especially glyphosate – control weeds so gardens look pretty. BUT, in doing so they kill important weeds that are food sources for butterflies. For example, this pesticide kills milkweed, which is this Monarch caterpillar’s food source.

Report caterpillar sightings.

Want to play scientist? Download the free citizen science app from Monarch Joint Venture. The app, available for Apple devices, outlines many ways to help, such as tracking monarch eggs and larvae across North America during the breeding season. This, in turn, helps scientists better understand how monarchs interact with their environment, document conservation efforts, and track the population and its habitat as they change over time.

Educate others in your local community.

Go to the LEARN section on this website to find out more about butterflies and the challenges they face so that you can share important conservation tips with friends and family.

Donate.

If you can’t donate time but you’d still like to help, consider giving money. Every dollar counts.