Native Americans pledged to donate food and dedicate land for the monarch butterflies.
A recent report pointed out that the population of these migrating butterflies continues to decline and that they are at risk of going extinct in the next two decades.
In the 1 billion estimated to have migrated in 1996, only 35 million completed the trip in 2013, said University of Chicago Ecology and Evolution Professor Marcus Kronforst. Although the numbers rebounded, they are still way below of their population several years ago.
Several factors have contributed to their loss, including long migration duration and loss of natural landscapes along their path of migration. During the 3,000-mile journey, monarch butterflies undergo several generations from breeding to hatching.
Modern housing developments have also caused the number of wild milkweed plants to dwindle. Monarch butterflies lay their eggs on these plants, and these larvae will feed on the milkweed. But these plants upset the stomach of cattle, so farmers often cut the plants to make way for their farm expansion.
For this reason, seven Native American tribes from Oklahoma promised to plant milkweed and other plants that produce nectar.
"For the last several years, we have been raising bees and pollinators, so when this opportunity came along, it fit with what we were doing," said Chickasaw Nation Horticulture Department Director Thalia Miller during a news conference held on May 10 in Shawnee.
When monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico during winter, they pass through Oklahoma before they continue their migration to Canada.
The tribes will be working with the Euchee Butterfly Farm in Oklahoma and the Monarch Watch program of University of Kansas. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation also granted them a funding of $250,000.
Euchee Butterfly Farm Owner Jane Breckinridge, who breeds butterflies and serve as project co-director, is optimistic that the project will be a success because they will be working with the tribes that are known to be natural leaders in this kind of undertaking.
