Canadians to knit for monarch butterflies Special
Canadians to knit for monarch butterflies Special
By Tim Sandle 2 hours ago in Environment .
The David Suzuki Foundation is asking Canadians to knit during the spring as a way of symbolically welcoming monarch butterflies back to the country after a long, difficult winter in Mexico.
The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a milkweed butterfly. The butterfly is beautiful to look at, its wings are composed of an easily recognizable orange and black pattern. The butterfly is facing population decline and there are several campaigns to protect the insect together with awareness projects. One estimate indicates that the monarch butterfly population has fallen from one billion in the 1990s to around 3 million.
Reasons for decline include the degradation of wintering habitats in Mexico and California and over-use of pesticides (as Digital Journalist Marcus Hondro sums up in an informative article.)
Adding to the issue of population decline, Faisal Moola, director-general at the David Suzuki Foundation told Digital Journal that: "Monarch butterfly populations have dropped by over 95 per cent in the past two decades. This past winter was another tough one for monarchs, so we want to give them the warmest possible welcome by encouraging Canadians to knit chrysalises through our #knit4monarchs campaign."
The new campaign, Moola explains, takes the form of a simple, customizable #knit4monarchs pattern that enables people to knit chrysalises. The aim is that these cozy cocoons will provide shelter for young monarch caterpillars when they are at greatest risk of exposure and predation.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/environment/canadians-to-knit-for-monarch-butterflies/article/429795#ixzz3WCQkVD6M
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