Restoring Monarch Habitat in Vermont & Mexico

Last updated on October 3rd, 2022 at 06:01 pm

Monarch Butterfly Workshop at Nature Camp in Hinesburg, Vermont — Eileen Ashe invited me to teach about monarchs at Nature Camp, sponsored by the United Church of Hinesburg, VT last week. Students made seed balls out of potting soil, clay and water. We put milkweed and flower seeds in each ball and rolled them into sunny meadows where they’ll grow to produce habitat & food for monarchs next year.

Kids from Vermont & Mexico Restore Monarch Habitat

Monarch Butterfly Workshop | Nature Camp in Hinesburg, VT — Meet the amazing kids and counselors at Nature Camp in Hinesburg, Vermont. We looked at live monarchs in various stages of metamorphosis and studied their life cycle and migration. Many thanks to director, Eileen Ash for handing her love of nature to the next generation of Vermonters.

Restoring Summer Habitat in Vermont

Milkweed

Restoring Winter Habitat in Mexico

The Oyamel Forest

Children planting trees to replenish the Mexican forests where monarchs over-winter — Three thousand miles south of Vernon, we’re working with our friends at Forests for Monarchs to restore the monarch’s winter habitat: the Oyamel forest. These budding environmentalists are holding oyamel tree seedlings which they’ll plant to restore monarch habitat in their community. 550 of the seedlings will be donated by the kids & parents from the Hinesburg, Vermont Nature Camp.

The monarchs’ Mexican forest habitat is disappearing, due to climate change and illegal logging. So Vermont Woods Studios has partnered with the environmental heros at “Forests for Monarchs”. The students and parents above hold the future of the monarch’s winter habitat in their hands. You can lend your own hand to them at forestsformonarchs.org/donate .

Hands Across the Border

The monarch is a symbol of cross-border cooperation throughout North America, as it migrates through all 3 countries, Mexico, the USA and Canada. The same monarchs we’re seeing now in Vermont will soon migrate to Michoacan, Mexico. There they will spend the winter on oyamel trees in the Mexican forest, as their ancestors have done for thousands of years. The future of this astonishing migration rests in our hands and your hands but perhaps most importantly in the hands of the next generation. We want to give them as much help as possible. Read more about our partnership to conserve monarch habitat in Mexico & Vermont and donate to our friends at Forests for Monarchs today!

Together Kids from Vermont & Mexico are Planting 550 Trees to Restore the Monarch’s Winter Habitat

We’re sending thanks to Eileen Ash, the United Church of Hinesburg, VT and the kids & parents who made this monarch conservation project possible. Their generous contribution to Forests for Monarchs has enabled founder, Jose Luis Alvarez and his volunteers to plant 550 oyamel tree seedlings in the monarchs’ over-wintering area. Muchas gracias!

More About Monarchs

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This blog is written by your friends at Vermont Woods Studios. Check out our Vermont made furniture and home decor online and visit our showroom and art gallery at Stonehurst, the newly restored 1800s farmhouse nestled in the foothills of the Green Mountains.

Peggy Farabaugh

She is a CEO who brakes for salamanders, has bottle-fed rescued squirrels and spent her vacation building furniture for a rural school in Costa Rica. She believes in the future and in the people who will build it. A former distance-learning professor at Tulane University with a master’s in environmental health & safety, she turned an interest in forest conservation and endangered species into a growing, local business. She delivers rainforest statistics at breakneck speed, but knows how to slow down and appreciate the beauty of a newly finished piece of heirloom furniture.

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