DURHAM, NH — Join biologists from NH Fish & Game and UNH Cooperative Extension for a seminar to learn more about the status of monarch butterflies and how you can help the species on your property, in your town, and as a citizen scientist.
The seminar will be held at the Strafford County Complex in Dover on Wednesday, September 12 from 2:00 to 4:00 PM. It will include an overview of monarch ecology and life cycles and an introduction to citizen science programs you can participate in to help monitor the species. Training will also include a field demonstration of monarch tagging – a technique used to determine how many of the monarchs that pass through New Hampshire actually make it to Mexico for the winter.
This seminar is free, but registration is required. Sign up at naturegroupie.org.
Each summer, monarchs arrive to breed in our local milkweed patches, and large numbers of adult butterflies migrate through on their return to Mexico for the winter. New Hampshire citizens and others across the nation have been noticing greater variation in the number of adults that arrive annually, prompting questions. Data from the overwintering grounds show the monarch butterfly population has declined 90% over the past two decades.

The US Fish & Wildlife Service is currently reviewing the species status for federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, with a listing decision expected in June, 2019. Key threats to the species include loss of overwintering habitat in Mexico, loss of breeding habitat in the US and Canada, climate change, and disease.
New Hampshire is one of many states across the species range to include the Monarch in their state Wildlife Action Plan as a species of greatest conservation need. Conservation actions to help the species include planting milkweed, protection of their overwintering areas, and continued monitoring and research on the species throughout its life cycle.
Contact Haley Andreozzi at haley.andreozzi@nullunh.edu or call  862-5327 for more information.