Monarchs Matter: Starting a 100 Milkweed Plant Initiative

By Cynthia Zhang

Cynthia Zhang is a youth environmentalist, a co-chair of ReWild’s Social Media Committee, and the founder of Monarchs Matter, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and protecting the vulnerable monarch butterfly population.

An incoming junior at Great Neck South High School, she strives to inspire a new generation of environmental leaders on Long Island and around the world through social media.

the monarch decline

Due to deforestation, climate change, and pesticide use, the migratory monarch butterfly population has plummeted by over 80% since the 1980s, with their overwintering numbers in Mexico reaching the second lowest level on record last year. Thus, planting milkweed—the sole food source of monarch caterpillars—has become more critical than ever.

Monarch butterfly resting on a milkweed plant at the Science Museum of Long Island.

Raise, Tag, & Release (RTR) Program 100 milkweed plug distribution at the ReWild Garden @ Dodge.

the 100 milkweed plant initiative

Thanks to the ReWild Free Plants Grant, Monarchs Matter distributed 100 swamp milkweed plugs to over 30 students during its Raise, Tag, & Release (RTR) Program training session on July 2.

The milkweed plants not only bring biodiversity to private yards and sequester atmospheric carbon but also establish stronger and more meaningful connections between youth and the environment. Through hands-on participation, students will gain a deeper awareness of the benefits of maintaining a sustainable native plant garden that is both low-maintenance and environmentally friendly.

During the training session, students also learned about surveying milkweed sites and raising and tagging monarch butterflies to support the research efforts of the Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP) and the Monarch Watch Tagging Program. This will be our focus for the rest of the RTR Program in collaboration with the ReWild Summer Program to Fight Hunger and Climate Change.

How the swamp milkweed are growing

Students’ swamp milkweed plants are beginning to thrive! For some, these plugs are their first native plants, while others are welcoming familiar friends back into their gardens. For students who lack outdoor planting spaces, they have found solutions to plant these milkweeds in large pots, on balconies, and indoors with plans to transplant them outdoors later.