The data is out. This week the WWF-Telcel Alliance released data from the annual estimate of the monarch butterfly population at the overwintering sites in central Mexico. This winter, to no one's surprise, has the smallest number of monarchs ever recorded overwintering in Mexico. Rather than actually counting each individual monarch, a daunting and impossible task, researchers estimate the area (in hectares) that the densely clustering monarchs are occupying. The estimate for the winter of 2013-2014 is 0.63 hectares. The previous record low was set last winter at 1.19 hectares. The best winter since 1994-95 when data began to be collected was the winter of 1996-97 with 20.97 hectares.
For those who may be math challenged, this winter is a 97 percent decrease from 17 years ago. Why such a precipitous drop? There are a number of issues at play. This past spring, when monarchs were leaving Mexico to head back north, the weather in Mexico and south Texas was very cold. Normally what happens is the migratory generation of monarchs, those who spent the winter in Mexico, lay eggs and die in northern Mexico and south Texas. The children, once they grow to adulthood, continue the trip north and east throughout North America. In 2013, due to cold weather, many of the nectar and host plants needed to support the monarch life cycle were not available. Spring and early summer in eastern North America had similar cold temperatures, thus putting the monarch life cycle further behind schedule.
The bigger problem for the monarch however is loss of habitat. In December 1994, if an airplane had dropped DDT on the monarch overwintering sites in Mexico, killing 97% of the monarchs, there would have been a massive outcry, both from environmentalists and non-environmentalists, from everyday people who think butterflies are pretty. However, we have managed to do the exact same thing through habitat loss, whittling away a little more each year, with only butterfly nerds seeming to notice.
Some of the habitat loss is happening on the Mexican side of the border with the illegal logging of pristine overwintering habitat. And while I think we can find other ways for Mexicans in that area to make a living, I can understand the local inhabitants' perspective. Genesis 2:15 tells us to use the land for our sustenance, but to also take care of the land. The Mexicans have been logging these mountains for generations; it will take awhile to transition them to a different economy or to educate them on sustainable logging practices, such that there can be plenty of trees for man and insect.
The bigger problem for the monarch is on the American side of the border. The use of Round-up Ready crops, conversion of wild lands to subdivisions, and roadside mowing to the point of obsession has made the once plentiful milkweed that the monarch depends on, a relic in its own right. We are not taking care of the land wisely. The Lord created a wonderfully intricate system when he formed Creation; a system that manages to stay in balance when left to itself. As humans, we are using the land but taking care of it only in terms of our own selfish needs, rather than the needs of Creation itself and the system God put in place to operate it.
So what happens now? I don't think the monarch is going to go extinct, only because nature nerds will not allow that to happen. However, I think it is imperative for all believers to feel a sense of urgency to bring Creation back into balance. The monarch is only the poster child for a divine system that is out-of-whack. Every believer should be all about creating wildlife habitat in their home landscapes, having a minimal impact on Creation, and farming with an attitude of what is best for Creation and not just what is best for the next season's crop.
Start today! Dedicate a section of your yard to convert back into prairie or woods or whatever it once was. Plant milkweed in your yard for the next generation of monarch butterflies. Replant the wildflowers that the hummingbirds once used for nectar. We can bring Creation back into balance, if we ALL work at it a little bit at a time.
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