Monarch Habitat Grant

092515_4005

Kansas City

Metropolitan

Area Monarch

Butterfly

Conservation:  

A Multi-Sector

Partnership

 

Burroughs Audubon and Partners Awarded
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Grant for Monarch Habitat


In 2014, USFWS was petitioned to provide protection to the monarch butterfly that has seen over a 90% decline in populations. Primary contributing factor to the decline of the monarch butterfly is the loss of milkweed habitat.

 

On September 28, during the peak of monarch migration, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) announced the recipients of the 2015 Monarch Conservation Fund grants. Out of 115 proposals, NFWF chose 22 recipients representing over $3.3 Million dollars awarded. The Burroughs Audubon grant was a collaborative effort between Burroughs Audubon, with the support and endorsement of The Kansas City Native Plant Initiative, and its partners. The Kansas City Metropolitan Area Monarch Butterfly Conservation: A Multi-Sector Partnership grant was awarded $229,868 and will create unprecedented cooperation, awareness and creation of monarch habitat across the KC area.

Components of the Grant:

  • Over 1,400 acres of monarch habitat will be impacted over time by restoration or improvement

 

  • Hundreds of thousands KC metro residents and visitors will become aware of the plight of the monarch, the importance of monarch habitat and what they can do on small and large scales

 

  • 100 acres of new habitat will be created by Johnson County Parks along the Mill Creek Streamway Trail in Shawnee Mission Park, hosting 4 Million annual visitors

 

  • A flail vac will be purchased for use in Johnson County parks so continued habitat improvement and restoration will go on for the over 1,000 acres available for restoration in the Johnson County Parks system

 

  • 40 acres of restoration along KCMO highways, broadening the scope and reach of roadside habitat in KCMO

 

  • 5 acres of native monarch habitat will go on KCP&L properties, including their new, state of the art, sustainable training facility and expanding the use of native habitat for this outstanding Kansas City company

 

  • Bridging the Gap will run homeowner workshops, engage municipalities in monarch plantings in city gardens, with a minimum of 50 city gardens and 125 homeowner gardens implemented across the metropolitan area

 

  • A 600 sq ft native plant monarch garden will be created in Loose Park outside of the park office, on the way to the rose garden. This is a joint effort between partners: Powell Gardens, Kansas City Parks and Recreation and the Westport Garden Club. The garden will promote ‘Grow Native’, a program of the Missouri Prairie Foundation and serve as interpretive garden to monarch plants in the home landscape. Loose Park hosts over 1,000,000 visitors a year

 

  • Audubon will give away, through partnership with other NGOs including The Platte Land Trust, 4,000 native milkweed and nectar plants and fund up to 2,000 sq ft of native monarch habitat plantings in schools