Photo: Laura Luekens/MJV

Free training is available once a month from February to April! This virtual training provides an overview of the MLMP and equips partners with the tools and knowledge needed to monitor their habitats and raise awareness of the program. With an additional goal of SAFE Monarch partners feeling prepared to train others, whether staff, volunteers, or community members, and expanding monitoring efforts across their regions.

SAFE Monarch aims to encourage partners to participate in community science initiatives that make meaningful contributions to data collection. One such initiative is the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP), a 30-year dataset that tracks monarch larval density across the landscape. The project’s mission is to better understand the distribution and abundance of breeding monarchs and to use that knowledge to inform and inspire monarch conservation efforts.

The International Monarch Monitoring Blitz returns July 31 through August 9, 2026, celebrating its 10th anniversary. This unique trinational effort across the United States, Canada, and Mexico brings people together to document monarchs and their habitat during the summer breeding season. The Blitz is the only coordinated North American effort of its kind working to create a snapshot of monarch breeding activity, helping scientists better understand the population beyond the annual overwintering counts. For the 10th anniversary, we are aiming to engage 10,000 new participants, and we need your help. Zoos can play an important role by encouraging participation from staff and visitors in whatever way works best for them. In the United States, observations can be submitted through Journey North, the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP), or the Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper. All three programs contribute data to the Blitz, so simply choose the program that works best for you and join the effort. If you are willing to help promote the Blitz through your network, we can provide social media templates and visual assets to make it easy to encourage participation. 

Thank you to our Funders!

Chrysalis

• Scovill Zoo 

Instar

• Dallas Zoo

• Saginaw Children’s Zoo

• Roger Williams Park Zoo