Best Management Practices
How we manage our natural areas, farms, gardens, and cities matters to wildlife including monarch butterflies. The Xerces Society has many publications of guidance of how to make more space for pollinators on roadsides, urban areas, gardens, etc. See the Pollinator Conservation Resource Center to learn more. For resources specific to monarchs, check out the following publications:
Breeding and Migratory Habitat:
The Xerces Society has developed guidance on how to best manage monarch breeding and migratory habitat in the western U.S. Managing for Monarchs in the West: Best Management Practices for Conserving the Butterfly and its Habitat.
Western Monarch Management Windows: Timing Management in Monarch Breeding Habitat
Roadside Habitat for Monarchs: Monarch Butterflies, Weeds, and Herbicides.
A Quick Guide to Monarch Habitat on Farms in California’s Central Valley (The Xerces Society: conservation guidelines). This guide provides information for farmers in the Central Valley interested in adding monarch habitat to their land.
Native Milkweed in California: Planting and Establishment
Overwintering Habitat:
The Xerces Society and Creekside Science partnered to develop Protecting California’s Butterfly Groves: Management Guidelines for Monarch Butterfly Overwintering Habitat.
For more information about managing California overwintering sites visit the western monarch count website.
