Monarch Milkweed Iniative

A successful year in-review

The support of the Friends has resulted in a year of huge successes for the Monarch-Milkweed Initiative! As the monarch butterfly population continues to decline across the American landscape, the Initiative's efforts have focused on discovering the root-causes of this decline and providing an active source of the monarchs’ host plant, milkweed. St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge is along the migratory flyway of monarchs and serves as an ideal setting to research these butterflies.

Through the support of the Friends, the Initiative has funded multiple interns and constructed a milkweed nursery for the research and production of milkweeds. The Initiative has allowed us to successfully research every species of milkweed found inside of the Refuge.

New advancements this year include discovering activelybreeding monarchs, utilizing aquatic milkweed, at the refuge over the winter months – previously unknown. We inch closer to filling-in another puzzle piece in the mysteries behind monarch-milkweed ecology. The Initiative continued to maintain excellent outreach and interpretation with the public and other agencies. One of our most significant outreach tools is our presentation series. Over the last year, 18 different presentations were held across the southeast, reaching approximately 2000 people.