This revised plan sharpens habitat and population goals, incorporates new scientific findings, and outlines voluntary conservation measures to stabilize and restore the western monarch population. The updated plan reflects our WAFWA’s Monarch and Native Pollinator Working Group’s (WMNIP) collaborative vision for Western monarch conservation and provides a unified framework for cooperation across partners, ecosystems, and jurisdictions. This revised plan incorporates the latest scientific insights into monarch ecology for each habitat type while highlighting critical knowledge gaps to inform future conservation strategies.
The plan now includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Colorado, and New Mexico. These states cover the central and surrounding areas of the Western monarch range, including habitats for overwintering, breeding, and migration.
Chapter 6 lists all identified and recommended conservation strategies, which now specifically include integrating Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Tribal initiatives, and cultural values for habitat restoration and seed selection.
A copy of the updated plan can be found at the following link:
https://wafwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WAFWAmonarch2025UpdateWeb.pdf
The WAFWA’s Monarch and Native Pollinator Working Group (WMNIP) is formed by expert scientists from Western state agencies and non-profits, including NWF. WMNIP hosted a virtual partners meeting to provide vital information to identify Western monarch conservation priorities and update the plan.