Mission Plaza in San Luis Obispo now has educational panels and a native flower garden to inform visitors and locals of the plight of the western monarch butterfly, a collaborative effort from the City of SLO and the Central Coast State Parks Association.
The panels come at a timely moment for the species, as western monarch butterfly numbers are signaling one of the lowest population counts since the count’s inception in 1997. As a result, earlier this month on Dec. 10, 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) proposed listing monarch butterflies as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
“We only have 197 as of the last count, which is the lowest count recorded in our (Pismo State Beach Monarch Grove) history.” — Danielle Bronson, State Park Cultural and Interpretive Programs Manager, Oceano Dunes District
Central Coast State Parks Association in collaboration with Xerces Society and the City of San Luis Obispo invite locals and visitors of SLO to visit the new panels to learn about this ecologically important, culturally significant, and generally fascinating member of the SLO community. The Mission Plaza panels were generously sponsored by the Thomas E. and Mary Kathryn Eltzroth Fund. In addition to the panels, a native plant nectar garden has also been installed around the panels to highlight the flowering plant species that are beneficial to monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
Panels identify crucial overwintering and nectaring locations for western monarchs and provide the public with the most accurate information approved by leading agencies like State Parks, CDFW and the Xerces Society, as well as efforts to restore their populations.
In 2021, Central Coast State Parks Association created the Western Monarch Trail, a collaborative project between several environmental agencies to provide consistent and accurate messaging to conserve and protect the western monarch butterfly.
CCSPA as the fiscal sponsor placed over 10 panels in overwintering habitats along the central coast to protect the migration route of the western monarch butterfly. The purpose – to place educational signs at critical sites along this route that provide shelter for butterflies during the winter, nectar to feed migrating monarchs and native milkweed to feed their larvae.
This project, launched by the Central Coast State Parks Association, was handed over to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation in March 2024 and remains a collaborative effort.
“The City of San Luis Obispo has signed up for the Mayors Monarch Pledge through the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) which identifies several program areas to help support this iconic species. From habitat creation and rehabilitation, updates to City operations to protect and support monarch butterflies to public education opportunities, we have been active in all these program areas to protect and support the monarch butterflies that move through our community so future generations can see these beautiful butterflies come back to our area.” Freddy Otte, SLO City Biologist.
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