Each year, monarch butterflies travel thousands of miles across North America to Mexico. But scientists say the species’ population has dropped dramatically over the past three decades.
George Kimbrell, co-executive director of the Center for Food Safety, said monarch numbers have declined by about 90% since the late 1990s. He describes the loss as a warning sign of broader environmental damage linked to industrial agriculture.
Monarch butterflies depend on milkweed, the only plant their caterpillars eat. Kimbrell said the widespread use of glyphosate-based herbicides, including Roundup, has eliminated large swaths of milkweed habitat across the Midwest and other farming regions.
He also pointed to neonicotinoid insecticides, which target insects’ nervous systems and can harm pollinators. “One in three bites of food we eat require pollinators,” Kimbrell said, arguing that pollinator declines could have consequences for food production.
Environmental groups have sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, seeking a final determination on whether monarch butterflies warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. Kimbrell described the decade-long effort to secure federal safeguards as slow and contentious.
Scientists have warned that western monarch populations face a high risk of extinction in the coming decades without intervention.
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- George Kimbrell, co-director, Center for Food Safety
