Save the monarch

The clocks have sprung ahead. Evenings are longer. In gardens, flurries notwithstanding, the first ambitious green sprouts have poked through the soil.

Meanwhile, in the forests of Mexico, orange and black squadrons of monarch butterflies will soon be mustering for the 5,000-kilometre journey to Canada.

As road trips go, the flight by such a delicate creature over such a vast distance is epic. And their safe arrival to waft on summer breezes local gardens and flower patches is one of the delights of the brief northern summer.

But this month, a survey by the World Wildlife Fund and Mexican scientists showed a 15-per-cent drop in the area occupied this winter by hibernating monarchs in central Mexico.

That drop is alarming, as monarchs are considered a barometer of ecological health. In addition to their esthetic attributes, monarchs play a key role in the ecosystem by pollinating wild flowers and serving as food for birds and other insects.

Specialists in biodiversity have said such foodstuffs as coffee, chocolate and apples could suffer from the loss of this pollinator so pleasing to the eye and spirit.

While their population fluctuates, the trend for a quarter century has been downward.

Monarchs are considered an endangered species in Canada. And, along with habitat loss due to deforestation, the extreme weather associated with climate change is blamed for the falling population.

Scientists have said Canadians can help the species revive by planting milkweed in their gardens, a plant in which monarchs will lay their eggs and on which larvae feed.

Apparently the toxins in the plant make both the caterpillar and the adult butterfly unpalatable to predators. Herbicides have killed off a lot of milkweed in recent decades.

So to work, Canada! We have plots of milkweed to plant. And a symbol of transformation and rebirth to save.

Such foodstuffs as coffee, chocolate and apples could suffer from the loss of this pollinator