Pollinator Conservation, Education and Outreach

Pollinator conservation requires a collaborative approach, providing information to the public about all aspects of monarchs and pollinators and creating opportunities for engagement. Partners include federal and state agencies, city and county governments and parks, non-governmental organizations, community-based groups, corporations, businesses, educational institutions, and citizens.

Current efforts

• Indiana Monarch Conservation Summit

  The DNR was involved in Indiana’s first Indiana Monarch Conservation Summit, Sept. 19-20, 2017. It was hosted by the Indiana Wildlife Federation at the Sol Center in Indianapolis.

  • Keynote speakers included monarch researcher Dr. Karen Oberhauser and MAFWA monarch technical coordinator Claire Beck.
  • The summit was funded by a grant from the National Wildlife Federation.
  • About 60 individuals from 40 different state and federal agencies, non-government organizations, utility companies, and agricultural groups attended.
  • The program updated Indiana’s conservation partners on the current status of the monarch butterfly and pollinator science.
  • The summit started development of an Indiana Monarch Conservation Plan.
• Indiana Monarch Conservation Plan

  Following the success of the first Indiana Monarch Conservation Summit, staff from the DNR divisions of Fish & Wildlife, Nature Preserves, and State Parks are serving on the steering committee made up of various partners, and will draft the first Indiana Monarch Conservation Plan.

  • Volunteer work-group leaders were selected to draft broad plan content, goals, objectives, and strategies.
  • Work groups were formed for various habitat sectors, including public and protected lands, rural and agricultural land, utilities and rights of way, and urban/municipal.
  • Group leads from each sector created a draft plan based on input gathered at the summit.
  • Stakeholder drafting meetings were held to solidify plan drafts for each sector.
  • The current draft and information about the Indiana Monarch Conservation Plan can be found here.
• Mid-America Monarch Conservation Strategy

  The Division of Fish & Wildlife is actively participating in the Mid-America Monarch Conservation Strategy. This strategy is built from state and partner efforts to identify conservation targets, programs, and coordinated strategies to reverse the monarch population decline by:

  • Coordinating conservation actions necessary to recover the eastern monarch butterfly population through establishment of regional and state goals and strategies.
  • Identifying actions at the state- and regional-level to enhance monarch habitat by adding milkweed stems and restoring floral diversity east of the Rocky Mountains.
  • Supporting an average overwintering monarch population occupying six hectares in Mexico, as recommended by the Pollinator Health Task Force and the Monarch Conservation Science Partnership.
• Educational Pollinator Resource Development

  The Division of Fish & Wildlife assisted on a committee of conservation agencies and subject experts to develop educational, user-friendly guides about pollinator conservation and habitat.

  • Topics included the importance of pollinators, creating habitat and recommended native plants for attracting pollinators.
  • Reports published by Purdue Extension that include a series of free publications addressing many different aspects of pollinator conservation can be downloaded at the Purdue Extension website.