The iconic monarch butterfly is one of the most recognized butterflies in North America. However, its number is dwindling fast, a phenomenon blamed on changing land use, the use of stronger pesticides and deforestation.

The monarch is threatened to become an endangered species, prompting authorities and organizations to call for the help of the public to prevent this from happening. The proposed actions may even prove effective if these are done before it is too late.

Monarch Watch director Orley Taylor said that building habitats of milkweed could help protect the species from extinction. Milkweed is known to be crucial for the survival of the insect.

Besides being its source of food, milkweed is also home for the Monarch's freshly laid eggs as well as food source for the caterpillars before they become the beautiful black and orange-colored butterflies.

Since milkweeds are the only plants where the monarchs deposit their eggs and provide nourishment to their larvae, the monarchs depend on milkweed for their survival.

Since 1996, the extent of the loss of the milkweed-monarch habitat is estimated to be comparable to the size of Texas. Taylor said that recovery efforts will require a broad commitment not just from the agricultural sector.

"The monarch migration will not be saved unless there is both a bottom-up (citizen-driven) and top-down (government) commitment to the restoration of habitats," Taylor said.

Taylor said that the most effective way to do this is to plant monarch "way stations" or habitats on school grounds, in parks, alongside roadsides and rights of ways, business and residential areas and other unused sites as these can provide the resources that are required for producing successive generations of monarch and help sustain the insects during their migration.

Although there are more than 10,000 registered way stations in New Mexico, Taylor pointed out that millions more are needed. The way stations can be near or in existing gardens and must be at least a hundred square feet in size. It is also best to have a minimum of 10 plants composed of two or more milkweed species so these will bloom at different times. Milkweed has 73 known species in the U.S.

Several environmental groups made a petition in 2014 asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to include the butterfly in the list of endangered species. The agency is now considering the proposal.

Photo: Docentjoyce | Flickr