Save the Date! Join the 2025 International Monarch Monitoring Blitz: 25 July to 3 August
Mark your calendars! The International Monarch Monitoring Blitz returns for its ninth edition, from 25 July to 3 August 2025. This annual event invites individuals and organizations across Canada, Mexico and the United States to participate in a trinational effort to collect data on monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) and milkweed plants (Asclepias spp.), essential for the species' survival.
Organized by ten partner organizations across North America, the Blitz encourages everyone to contribute to monarch butterfly conservation through simple, yet impactful, actions.
1. Choose the community science program that's right for you: Check out the programs listed below to understand their data requirements, survey protocol and geographic range. Then, pick one to use during the Blitz!
- Correo Real Program (Mexico)
- iNaturalist.ca (Canada)
- Journey North (North America)
- Mission Monarch (Canada)
- Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (North America)
- Naturalista (Mexico)
- Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper (United States)
2. Observe and Report: Between 25 July and 3 August 2025, head outdoors to look for milkweed plants and monarch butterflies in any life stage—egg, caterpillar, chrysalis or adult butterfly. Document your observations following the protocol of the community science program of your choice.
3. Have fun! Share pictures on social media, using #MonarchBlitz. If you are an organization, we encourage you to fill out this form so we can highlight your Blitz activities and feature your logo on the Blitz webpage!
Data collected during the Blitz are published in the Trinational Monarch Knowledge Network, a repository of information available for anyone to consult and download. This snapshot of monarch and milkweed distribution helps scientists better understand how to protect and conserve one of North America’s most iconic species.
The Blitz is organized by a collaboration of organizations from across North America, namely the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), the Insectarium de Montréal | Espace pour la vie, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF), the Monarch Joint Venture, Journey North, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Profauna A.C. and Mexico’s National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (Conanp).
For more information on how to get involved, visit monarchblitz.org and follow #MonarchBlitz on social media.
If you would like to know more about CEC initiatives, opportunities and efforts, you can sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social media.
Nature enthusiasts across North America unite to conserve monarch butterflies.
About the CEC
The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) was established in 1994 by the governments of Canada, Mexico and the United States through the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation, a parallel environmental agreement to NAFTA. As of 2020, the CEC is recognized and maintained by the Environmental Cooperation Agreement, in parallel with the new Free Trade Agreement of North America. The CEC brings together a wide range of stakeholders, including the general public, Indigenous people, youth, nongovernmental organizations, academia, and the business sector, to seek solutions to protect North America’s shared environment while supporting sustainable development for the benefit of present and future generations
The CEC is governed and funded equally by the Government of Canada through Environment and Climate Change Canada, the Government of the United States of Mexico through the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales, and the Government of the United States of America through the Environmental Protection Agency.