On this first day of spring, Espace pour la vie is announcing some encouraging news: 67% of Quebeckers* would be ready to make a place for butterflies in their gardens or on their balconies if they knew how. That’s great news for the Insectarium team producing the Butterflies Go Free event currently underway in the main greenhouse at the Jardin botanique until April 29. In fact, this year’s theme aims to inspire visitors to share a portion of their garden with butterflies!
Throughout 2018, Espace pour la vie will be looking at the many ways living things dwell in nature and what we humans can do in order to be better inhabitants of our planet. Creating a butterfly garden is an accessible, concrete gesture that can be made, especially when monarchs are the objective. With the recent announcement of a 15% decrease in monarch populations in Mexican wintering zones, the creation of monarch oases in our gardens can only help to make a positive contribution to population recovery.
*Of those surveyed and who have an outdoor space.
Survey highlights:
- 76% of respondents know that butterflies are pollinators.
- The respondents with an outdoor space who are the most interested in creating a butterfly garden are: families with children (77%) and ages 25-34 (72%).
- The results were obtained via an Omnibus survey carried out online by the firm Léger from February 5 to 7, 2018, with a representative sample of 1,002 Quebeckers aged 18 or more able to speak either French or English.
How to create a monarch oasis:
- Come to Butterflies Go Free to get inspired and interact with Insectarium science guides.
- Visit espacepourlavie.ca/en/monarch-oasis to learn all sorts of tips.
- Download our Create a monarch Oasis tip sheet.
- Wtach the video How to create a monarch oasis.
- Register your garden in the My Space for Life Garden program: espacepourlavie.ca/en/my-garden
Once your monarch oasis is ready, you can take it a step further by sharing your observations of caterpillars, chrysalises and butterflies on the Mission Monarch website (mission-monarch.org), a Canada-wide citizen science project dedicated to monarch conservation.
Quote: “Recent research has shown that, to save the monarch’s migration, the only solution is to pool together our conservation efforts. Creating a monarch oasis and sharing observations of butterflies in your oasis is one of the gestures citizens can make,” said Maxim Larrivée, Section Head, Entomological Collections and Research at the Montréal Insectarium and Head of the Mission Monarch project.
Open Monday, April 2 (Easter)
Buy your tickets online at espacepourlavie.ca/en/ticket-office
In 2018, Espace pour la vie is taking a look at the many ways we dwell on our planet through inspiring ideas and thought-provoking talks and discussions to encourage citizens to get involved. This year at Espace pour la vie, nature dwells within us more than ever!
Visuals, video, data sheets:
Butterflies Go Free: bit.ly/Papillons2018
2018 programming: bit.ly/Programmation_2018
Montréal Space for Life is made up of four attractions on the same site: the Jardin botanique, Biodôme, Insectarium and Planétarium Rio Tinto Alcan. These four prestigious municipal institutions form Canada's largest natural science museum complex. Together, they are launching a daring, creative urban movement, urging everyone to rethink the connection between humankind and nature and cultivate a new way of living.
