海角大神

Have monarch butterflies been decimated? 鈥淒evastated鈥� is more like it: According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, in just a quarter of a century. But a new between the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and state partners promises to protect butterfly habitats, helping flutters of monarchs make their breathtaking, 3,000-mile migration for years to come.

On Monday, the NFWF awarded $3.3 million in grants to recipients in 14 states along the 鈥渂utterfly highway鈥� between their US summer habitats and winter forests in Mexico. The Foundation鈥檚 partners will match the gift with $6.7 million, funds that will go toward improving habitat health along their migratory route 鈥� much of which overlaps with human highway I-35.

For an animal that makes such an arduous journey each year, monarch caterpillars are inconveniently picky eaters: Only the milkweed plant will do. Milkweed also serves as the monarch nursery, as newborns store up energy to weave cocoons and undergo metamorphosis into their more elegant adult selves. In fact, the orange-and-black designs that humans find so beautiful are actually poisonous, warding off butterfly predators, and monarchs owe them to .听

But for most Americans, 鈥渕ilkweed鈥� is just that: a weed. Pesticides and other agricultural practices have , and some environmentalists have especially stern words for agrochemical king Monsanto, the company that produces Roundup herbicide, and even 鈥淩oundup Ready鈥� crops with pesticide engineered right into them.

In June, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a five-year study on glyphosate, a key ingredient in Roundup, and its impact on endangered species, including monarchs. Not all advocates were appeased. 鈥淭he EPA apparently plans to study the monarch migration to extinction,鈥� Natural Resources Defense Council scientist Dr. Sylvia Fallon said in , calling the delay for tougher actions 鈥渋nexcusable.鈥�

But Monsanto seems eager to make amends. The company, , is reviled by some environmental and anti-GMO activists as 鈥渢he agriculture world鈥檚 prince of darkness,鈥� but has launched what Politico writer Jenny Hopkinson called in recent years, including dedicating millions 鈥渢o sell the public on GMOs.鈥�听

Of the NFWF鈥檚 $3.3 million total, $1.2 million was donated by Monsanto, which is based in St. Louis, Missouri, a self-declared monarch sanctuary. Over the past year, to monarch causes.

Between corporate donations, government grants, and 听perhaps there鈥檚 hope for the species鈥� remaining 30 million. This month, the migratory generation takes off on their epic journey, turning the skies into a 鈥渒aleidoscope鈥� of brightly-colored wings: one word, in fact, for a group of butterflies.