Comprehensive Guide on How to Protect and Grow Declining Monarch Butterfly Population Published (DEP News Release)

Pollinators, including bees, bats, butterflies, moths, beetles, and other animals, are responsible for reproduction in 90% of the world's flowering plants, including food crops, by spreading pollen from flower to flower. They are vital to creating and maintaining the planet's habitats and ecosystems. Insects make up a large proportion of this group and are under a variety of stressors impacting their own populations but also the plants which rely on them.

It will take a concerted effort on the part of state and federal regulators, farmers, industry, homeowners and others to halt the decline of pollinators. The public can do its part by learning about the issues and taking action, including planting plants beneficial to native pollinators in their gardens and communities.

A familiar, and representative, species of pollinators is the Monarch Butterfly. The Department of Environmental Protection has produced a series of documents to inform the public about the issues by focusing on the Monarch:

New Jersey Monarch Butterfly Conservation Guide (pdf)
Monarch Facts (pdf)
New Jersey Monarch Butterfly Conservation Guide Executive Summary (pdf)

The NJ Division of Parks and Forestry launched the "Make a Difference for Monarchs ~ and Other Pollinators" program in 2015:
http://www.njparksandforests.org/parks/docs/SPS_Monarchs.pdf (pdf)

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