This November, over 50 representatives from 26 of nearly 40 Monarch Joint Venture partner organizations came together for the 7th MJV Annual Meeting. The meeting provides an opportunity for all MJV partners from across the U.S. to learn about each other’s efforts, network and refine monarch conservation actions and priorities for the next year and beyond. This year was the largest MJV annual meeting to date, as we have seen the partnership grow by more than a dozen organizations this year alone.
One of the main goals of the MJV annual meeting is to seek input from the full partnership to update our Implementation Plan, which is designed to identify current important actions for monarch conservation in the U.S. This plan was derived from the North American Monarch Conservation Plan (CEC 2008) and is updated annually by the MJV and partners. To accomplish this, small group discussions were facilitated at the annual meeting to discuss updates to each of our three main implementation goals: 1) Monarch Habitat Conservation, Maintenance and Enhancement; 2) Education to Enhance Awareness of Monarch Conservation Issues and Opportunities; and 3) Research and Monitoring to Inform Monarch Conservation Efforts.
The 2016 Implementation Plan is currently in its final stages of review and approval by the MJV and will be released publicly upon completion. We encourage other entities to integrate the plan’s identified actions and priorities into their current conservation objectives, and welcome additional feedback on how the plan can be improved. We also encourage collaborative approaches for implementing actions identified in the plan and seeking resources needed to do so.
We would like to thank our partners who were able to join us for a very successful meeting, all our partner organizations, and others for their contributions to monarch conservation. Together we can continue to expand our efforts to conserve and restore monarch habitat, educate the public and increase understanding of this amazing insect.
The content in this article does not necessarily reflect the positions of all Monarch Joint Venture partners.