Latin America
Written by Megan Ryssman, WWF’s Annual Giving Development Officer, and Monica Echeverria, WWF’s Director of Media and External Affairs Visiting the monarch’s overwintering grounds in Mexico is an experience that words can hardly capture. It is a moment of awe, reverence, and recognition that we are witnessing one of the true miracles of nature.
Latin America
Each fall, millions of monarch butterflies land in Mexico’s Central Highlands after a long journey to find respite from the cooling winter temperatures in the northeastern U.S. and Canada. For many folks in the U.S. and Canada, the ancestral hibernation grounds of the monarchs were a mystery until 1977.
Latin America
By Nat Hab Adventure Specialist Joey Sudmeier. As we navigate through a since-COVID-world these days, I’m constantly reminded of the merits and necessity of travel.
Conservation
A recent survey found that monarch butterflies only occupied 7 acres of forest during the 2019-2020 winter season, a 53% decrease from the 15 acres that were occupied only one year ago.
Nature & Wildlife
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines world heritage as “our legacy from the past, what we live with today, and what we pass on to future generations. Our cultural and natural heritage are both irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration.”
News & More
Congratulations to Mireille Hess and Trevor Hance, the two teachers who have been awarded Natural Habitat Adventures’ 2019 Monarch Butterfly Scholarship Grant! Nat Hab is honored to host these inspiring environmental educators on a January 2019 Kingdom of the Monarchs adventure to Mexico in January to experience the butterfly migration.
Latin America
Are you involved in environmental education, or do you know someone who is? Natural Habitat Adventures is now accepting applications for its 2019 Monarch Butterfly Scholarship Grant! The grant will award two qualified teachers an opportunity to experience the monarch butterfly migration on a small-group adventure led by premier naturalist guides.
Travel Tips
The monarch butterfly has the most highly evolved migration pattern of any known species of butterfly. They travel between 1,200 and 2,800 miles from the United States and Canada to central Mexican forests.
Travel Tales
Of all migrations by small creatures, few are as astonishing as the one performed by the monarch butterfly. The embodiment of fragility, these insects travel between 1,200 and 2,800 miles or more between their starting and ending points—a feat without parallel.
News & More
Citizen science has become an important tool for scientific research. Now, as funds for federal agencies and state natural resources departments around the country shrink, using ordinary folks to gather and record wildlife and environmental observations stretch limited research dollars by getting reams of data for free. NASA relies on amateur astronomers for asteroid observations.
Nature & Wildlife
Arguably among the most beautiful of all butterfly species, the North American monarch isn’t just another pretty face. It has very interesting characteristics and abilities that none of its butterfly cousins can lay claim to. Here are some amazing facts about this delicate yet incredibly durable and fascinating creature. 1. Frequent flier miles.
Conservation
Monarch butterfly populations have decreased so drastically over the past decade that a successful recovery is only hopeful.
