MJV’s newest partner is Butterfly Pavilion. Butterfly Pavilion is the first stand-alone, Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited non-profit invertebrate zoo in the world. Located in Westminster and Fort Collins, Butterfly Pavilion is home to the only year-round butterfly houses in Colorado. They are a primary contact point for butterflies and their conservation in the Front Range of Colorado and throughout the state.
Butterfly Pavilion participates in many conservation projects for all kinds of invertebrates. Most notably, Butterfly Pavilion is a leader in the AZA SAFE North American Monarch program where they collaborate with the Monarch Joint Venture. They are also highly involved in butterfly community science, hosting and directing the Colorado Butterfly Monitoring Network (CBMN), as well as hosting training for the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP) and the Integrated Monarch Monitoring Program (IMMP).
Zoos have the opportunity to play a key role in monarch conservation, and the Butterfly Pavilion is working towards increasing zoo involvement in monarch community science programs and pollinator habitat conservation and restoration. To learn more about Butterfly Pavilion and their programs, please visit www.butterflies.org
The Monarch Joint Venture is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and a national partnership of federal and state agencies, non-governmental organizations, businesses and academic programs working together to conserve the monarch butterfly migration. The content in this article does not necessarily reflect the positions of all Monarch Joint Venture partners. Header photo courtesy of Butterfly Pavilion.