The US Fish and Wildlife Service has just proposed listing the monarch butterfly as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. We have been predicting his announcement for years informed through direct experience of a unique community-driven conservation advocacy, habitat restoration, raising and releasing healthy adult monarch butterflies in Northern Manhattan, NewYork.
This urgent situation now demands immediate, coordinated action with the latest, most advanced tools of technology available, such as how Artificial Intelligence can help manage and synthesize monarch science and studies. As stakeholders in this area or subject, we want to hear your thoughts on how we can work together and share any new approaches to address this urgent issue. If requested, your replies will be incorporated into a follow-up email or blog for all who respond to lay the groundwork for an AI alliance focused on major urban centers, in particular for cities like NYC, on the northeast coast to address and set an example for other municipalities along the eastern monarch migration.
We believe that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can play a crucial role in our conservation efforts. At the Inwood Butterfly Sanctuary in Northern Manhattan, we have been exploring the use of AI to:
Track Migrations: Analyze satellite imagery, drone footage, and camera trap data to pinpoint critical habitats and migration patterns along the Atlantic Flyway.
Identify Suitable Habitats: Map and assess potential milkweed habitats by analyzing soil conditions, climate projections, and land use patterns.
Predict Population Trends: Develop sophisticated models to forecast future monarch populations, identify potential threats, and optimize conservation strategies.
Manage, consolidate and synthesize the science: studies of environmental impacts affecting the health of this indicator species, pesticide use, human impact, climate change.
Empower Citizen Scientists: Create AI-powered apps to engage the community in reporting sightings, identifying milkweed patches, and monitoring habitat health.
Educate youth and family stewardship. Our urban environment provides a tight community. Our kids share schools and parks. It's a small world neighborhood, one where we don't we drive cars. We walk to the park or school or to go shopping and as such city life creates environmental challenges and advantages.
mSAIL: Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed tiny solar-powered transmitters.
POLLi: This AI program developed by the Monarch Joint Venture uses drone imagery to identify and count milkweed plants, essential for monarch breeding.
We are eager to collaborate with organizations like yours to save monarch butterflies and leverage AI's full potential. By combining our expertise and resources, we can:
Expand AI-driven conservation efforts.
Secure funding for crucial projects.
Increase community engagement through citizen science.
Advocate for the protection of vital monarch habitats in Northern Manhattan.
Contribute to the creation of policies, practices and partnerships to protect monarch butterflies and their habitats.
We believe that Northern Manhattan, with its confluence of the Hudson and Harlem Rivers, represents a critical bottleneck in the Atlantic Flyway. When critical habitat is destroyed for such a vulnerable migratory species funneled through a concrete jungle, much like cutting a link in a chain, the entire migration is threatened with collapse. This scenario is unfortunately being repeated throughout the country, creating an exponential decline in population, which compels us to see the larger context and act together without administrative, municipal or political borders, especially in urban areas where habitat is under extreme threat. We must do something about it before it's too late. At this time protecting and restoring habitat here is essential to the survival of the monarch butterfly.
We urge you to join us in this urgent mission. Please visit our new website -in progress- at www.savemonarchbutterflies.org to add your email or contact us directly to discuss how we can collaborate. If you wish to support our unique, holistic approach to monarch butterfly conservation, please visit
https://www.gofundme.com/f/SaveTheMonarchButterflies
Sincerely,
"We Grow Life" is a citywide initiative to cultivate life and community, transform neglected spaces and protect endangered species—and save ourselves.
Isham Park Revitalization: A Children's Pollinator Garden, Monarch Butterfly Waystation and Endangered Species Preservation Program
https://www.participate.nyc.gov/processes/Citywidepb2024/f/343/proposals/12083
Create a World-Class Monarch Butterfly Conservation Facility Habitat Restoration Staging Area and Butterfly Vivarium at Inwood Hill Park Nature Center
https://www.participate.nyc.gov/processes/Citywidepb2024/f/343/proposals/12015 (Think NYCBG)
Media Recognition, National and International Coverage:
New Yorkers of the Week
Spectrum NY1 New Yorkers of the Week:
https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2021/08/02/new-yorker-of-the-week--keith-de-cesare
NYC gardeners push 'year of the milkweed' to save monarch butterflies from extinction:
https://www.wnyc.org/story/nyc-gardeners-push-year-milkweed-save-monarch-butterflies-extinction/
Dynamic Planet, Earth, Episode 4 at 23 minutes. Amid the world’s ecosystems in chaos, can science, nature, and tradition prepare us for the future?
https://www.pbs.org/video/earth-off9cl/
Citations for Media and Projects:
Monarch Butterfly Proposed for Endangered Species Act Protection https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2024-12/monarch-butterfly-proposed-endangered-species-act-protection
Migratory monarch butterfly now Endangered - IUCN Red List
https://iucn.org/press-release/202207/migratory-monarch-butterfly-now-endangered-iucn-red-list
New York City to spray pesticides to help prevent spread of mosquitoes, diseases they may carry
https://abc7ny.com/post/west-nile-virus-new-york-city-spray-pesticides-help-prevent-spread-mosquitoes-diseases-may-carry/15230452/
ABC7 Video On Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14DZEikZwjaSyzN8/?mibextid=oFDknk
Why you'll be seeing fewer monarch butterflies this fall https://discoverandshare.org/2024/09/16/bug-profile-monarch/
Monarch Butterfly and Pollinators Conservation Fund | NFWF https://www.nfwf.org/programs/monarch-butterfly-and-pollinators-conservation-fund
Conservation psychology strategies for collaborative planning https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9790717/
Restoring Habitat for Monarch Butterflies | National Wildlife Federation
https://www.nwf.org/Our-Work/Wildlife-Conservation/Monarch-Butterfly
Monarch Butterfly Conservation Questions - iNaturalist Forum
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/monarch-butterfly-conservation-questions/37874
Endangered Species Act - Monarch Joint Venture https://monarchjointventure.org/faq/endangered-species-act
Monarch Butterfly Conservation in North America
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/Monarch_Butterfly/conservation/index.shtml
Pesticides and You - Beyond Pesticides https://www.beyondpesticides.org/assets/media/documents/infoservices/pesticidesandyou/documents/Spring2013.pdf
North American Monarch Conservation Plan, A Continental Approach to Conservation:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wildflowers/pollinators/Monarch_Butterfly/conservation/conservation_plan.shtml
Restoring Monarch Habitat
https://www.nwf.org/Our-Work/Wildlife-Conservation/Monarch-Butterfly
Monarch Conservation https://www.monarchwatch.org/conserve/
https://www.nwf.org/Our-Work/Wildlife-Conservation/Monarch-Butterfly
Tracking Monarch Butterfly Migration with the World’s Smallest Computer
Mapping Milkweed for Monarchs: Using Innovative Technology to Support Biodiversity Conservation
https://cacm.acm.org/research-highlights/msail-milligram-scale-multi-modal-sensor-platform-for-monarch-butterfly-migration-tracking/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">mSAIL: Milligram-Scale Multi-Modal Sensor Platform for Monarch Butterfly Migration Tracking
