DuPage Monarch Project is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2020 Jane Foulser Habitat and Pat Miller Community Engagement awards on Tuesday January 19th at 2:00 pm.  You are invited to join us in recognizing these outstanding achievements in increasing pollinator habitat and the community’s awareness of solutions for monarch decline. 

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_e3Zsq5xQR6KxirjGsxK_Rw

Are you wondering why you’re being invited to share in celebrating these inspiring butterfly projects? It’s because you can make a difference in saving monarchs. You are part of the solution

In December, the US Fish and Wildlife Service responded to a request to list monarch butterflies as threatened due to a steady decrease in their number.  After six years of reviewing the research, it was determined monarchs are threatened but federal protection would not be granted at this time.  The USFWS decision means local conservation projects are even more critical to the survival of monarch butterflies. 

For now, protecting monarchs is up to us.

Volunteers planting for monarchs in Glendale Heights

Your landscaping can be part of the solution to monarch decline by adding milkweed and fall blooming asters and making small changes in maintenance practices like when areas are mowed and cleaned up in spring and fall. The Illinois Monarch Project (illinoismonarchproject.org) has set a goal of 150 million new stems of milkweed by 2038.  Every new stem planted at home, or at a school, library or church garden helps IMP reach that goal.

Monarch caterpillar on milkweed planted by the City of West Chicago

The cities, villages, park districts, garden clubs and churches participating in the DuPage Monarch Project are making progress on the shared vision of a monarch friendly county with habitat stretching from Wayne to Naperville and Bensenville to Darien.  Working together, the goal is within our reach.

Register for the Awards Ceremony at:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_e3Zsq5xQR6KxirjGsxK_Rw

We encourage you to widely share the link with interested staff and volunteers.  Saving monarchs needs all hands-on deck, everyone is welcome to participate.

DuPage Monarch Project is a collaboration of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, River Prairie Group of the Illinois Sierra Club, The Conservation Foundation and Wild Ones Greater DuPage Chapter, dedicated to the protection of monarch butterflies and pollinators.