2025 Monarch Monitoring Blitz – Record mobilization for protecting an emblematic species
MONTRÉAL, Sept. 24, 2025 /CNW/ – Espace pour la vie is celebrating unprecedented participation in the International Monarch Monitoring Blitz, a community-science initiative conducted on a North American scale to support conservation of the emblematic migratory butterfly.
For over 25 years, monarch populations have been suffering a worrisome decline. Faced with that ecological emergency, Canada, the United States and Mexico are uniting their efforts to preserve habitats that are essential to the survival of the monarch all along its migratory route.
From July 25 to August 3, 2025, thousands of citizens, scientists and organizations mobilized to document monarchs and milkweeds, the host plants that are indispensable to their reproduction. Data collected allow for a better understanding of population dynamics during its summer reproduction and of how to guide conservation efforts in both urban and rural settings.
Record participation
This year, the Blitz reached a historic milestone:
- More than 9,000 participants spread over the three countries
- More than 33,000 monarchs observed
- More than 71,000 milkweed plants recorded
These results indicate a clear improvement compared to 2024, when 5,798 volunteers reported 16,161 monarchs and 68,460 milkweeds. The data collected are available for free access via the Trinational Monarch Knowledge Network.
An exemplary collective mobilization
Espace pour la vie would like to thank all the people and organizations that contributed to the Blitz. Conservation of this butterfly is a shared responsibility that depends on international collaboration and community commitment. Protecting monarchs, including milkweed and areas rich in nectar, benefits all pollinators and bolsters the resilience of natural environments. In protecting this flagship species, we contribute to preserving North American biodiversity.
Citations
Maxim Larrivée, Director, Insectarium
“The Monarch Blitz is an example where community science – thanks to coordinated local action – can have a true continent-wide impact on the preservation of biodiversity. That collaboration, which brings together Canada, Mexico and the United States Mexico, embodies a real solution for implementing protective measures aimed at conserving the monarch butterfly.”
Jacob Swanson, Outreach associate, Journey North
“Community science efforts like the International Monarch Monitoring Blitz are great opportunities to spark interest in conservation and the natural world, so it’s very encouraging to see participation jump this year, both in the number of reports submitted and the number of people participating. I’m excited to see that momentum continue through this year’s fall migration and beyond.”
Jerónimo Chávez, Project Manager, Correo Real Program, Profauna A.C.
“The Monarch Blitz in Mexico is highly relevant because it serves to heighten public interest in the monarch butterfly during the summer. As proof of this, this year the community participating in Correo Real held events along the migratory route to encourage people to go out and look for milkweed plants and monarchs. At Profauna, A.C., we believe that international and domestic collaboration are key to ensuring a prosperous migration for the monarch butterfly. For communities interested in conservation of this species, the Monarch Blitz initiative represents a successful example of this.”
James Page, CWF Species at Risk and Biodiversity Specialist, Canadian Wildlife Federation
“The information collected by people is extremely valuable, helping us plan where we need to restore or create monarch habitat, and here in Canada it’s looking like we need to go further north than we previously might have thought. Of the nearly 8,000 monarch observations recorded by iNaturalist during the Blitz, some showed monarchs ranging much farther north than had been previously expected—up to 100 km farther in some cases—and that was from just one of the six platforms people were using to record their observations,” said James Page, of the Canadian Wildlife Federation.
Heading for the 10th anniversary of the Blitz
In 2026 we’ll be celebrating a decade of citizen mobilization and scientific cooperation. This will be an opportunity to call attention to the progress that has been made and to step up efforts to support the conservation of monarch populations and the habitats that sustain them.
To learn more
Blitz results can be found on the website of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
To discover the community-science programs:
- Mission Monarch and iNaturalist.ca (Canada)
- Journey North, Monarch Larva Monitoring Project and Western Monarch and Milkweed Mapper (United States)
- Programa Correo Real and iNaturalistMX (Mexico)
Organizations united for conservation
The Blitz is coordinated by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation and supported by:
- Canada: Environment and Climate Change Canada, Insectarium | Espace pour la vie, Canadian Wildlife federation
- Mexico: Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas, Profauna, A.C.
- United States: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Journey North and the Monarch Joint Venture
About Espace pour la vie
Protecting biodiversity and the environment is at the heart of the mission of Espace pour la vie, which is made up of the Biodôme, Biosphère, Insectarium, Jardin botanique and Planétarium. Together, these museums located in Montréal form Canada’s largest natural science museum complex, welcoming over 2.5 million visitors each year. In view of the challenges our planet is facing, Espace pour la vie is working to increase its impact by fostering dialogue with communities and taking actions aimed at mobilizing the public behind the socio-ecological transition.
SOURCE Espace pour la vie Montreal
