Texan by Nature South-Central Monarch Symposium

Texan by Nature will convene the South-Central Monarch Symposium on May 31 – June 1, 2017. A strategic initiative of the organization, the symposium will have three areas of focus: research and monitoring, land management and private landowner initiatives, and sessions on education, outreach, communication, and coordination. Participants will include experts and organizations engaged in monarch research and conservation in the south-central portion of the butterfly’s migratory pathway to ensure a more comprehensive partner conservation strategy, and to optimize the effectiveness of recovery efforts in this portion of the migratory pathway.

The recovery of the monarch butterfly and the goal to thus preclude the need for federal listing of the species has prompted immense effort and investment among government agencies, NGO’s, universities, the private sector, and Texas landowners. However, species recovery is most effective when research, conservation efforts, and investments are comprehensive and coordinated across the range. Unlike the mid-western and northern part of the species range in the United States, rangelands and urban areas dominate the landscape supporting the spring and fall monarch migrations in Texas and Oklahoma.

Through this symposium, we hope to engage the organizations, experts, and landowners present in order to facilitate dialog and develop a collaborative, conservation framework for creating sustainable habitats for the monarch butterfly in Texas. After the symposium, a plan will be developed to provide a comprehensive, partner conservation strategy designed to optimize recovery efforts in the south-central section of the migratory pathway. Texan by Nature Looks forward to working with our partners and leading scientific experts to achieve this important goal.

We would like to thank the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for the generous grant that is funding this symposium. To learn more about this organization, visit their website here.