A recent article published by vox.com profiles efforts by EDF, Monarch Lab and Environmental Incentives to establish the Monarch Butterfly Habitat Exchange. Dubbed the “AirBnB for Butterflies,” this program would “create an exchange where investors and conservationists could pay farmers, ranchers, and other landowners to set aside protected space filled with milkweeds along the monarchs’ migration route.” This innovative model will contribute to the recovery of monarch butterfly populations and can be used to protect other species of conservation concern.
Environmental Incentives is leading the development of a Habitat Quantification Tool that will be used by the exchange to assess monarch habitat – informing appropriate restoration actions and measuring the outcomes of projects that benefit monarchs. The tool will be field tested this year and will be used by the exchange in three states in 2017.
