Make Your Efforts Count with HabiTally

HabiTally, a free mobile app developed by Bayer enables users to enter data about their monarch habitat conservation efforts

Due to climate change, drought, habitat loss and more, monarch butterflies face many challenges that impact their health. This has led to a decline in their population over the last two decades. Additionally, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has accessed that listing the North American monarch butterfly under the Endangered Species Act is warranted but precluded by species of higher priority.

By planting pollinator habitat with milkweed species,and recording these efforts in the HabiTally app, we can all do our part to support monarch butterflies. This habitat is made up of milkweeds and other native nectar flowers. Milkweeds are a group of flowering plants that not only provide nectar for foraging adult monarchs but are the sole food for monarch caterpillars.

In addition, having a variety of other flowers that produce nectar throughout the spring, summer and early fall will help provide a food source for the adult monarch butterflies as they migrate across the landscape during these seasons. We can plant monarch habitat in our gardens or in other under-utilized areas of our properties. Record both your new planting efforts or any monarch habitat and milkweed that already grows on your land in the HabiTally app.

HabiTally, a free mobile app that was developed by The Climate Corporation and Bayer and donated to Iowa State University (ISU), it is available in Apple App store for Android and enables users to enter data about their monarch habitat conservation efforts. The information is shared by ISU to the USFWS and contributes to their understanding of restoration projects taking place across the nation.

With enough action, monarch populations will stabilize and may no longer be at risk of becoming an endangered species. Creating amazing pollinator habitat isn’t easy so make sure to record your efforts so they can be taken into consideration by the USFWS. 

*Please note: Information collected in HabiTally will be made anonymous and aggregated at the county level. Users will be able to see a national account of efforts logged using the app.
 

In addition to looking nice, monarch habitat helps attract a variety of pollinators, improves soil health and water quality, houses natural enemies of crop pests and increases wildlife diversity. If you are a farmer looking to increase milkweed habitat on your farm, visit Farmers for Monarchs to find additional information on incentive and cost-share programs, assistance and other resources.

The information collected by the app will also have lasting benefits for additional pollinators and biodiversity. While crucial for monarchs, habitats that consist of milkweed and other nectar plants provide important resources for many other animals. The data collected through HabiTally can help inform other future decisions regarding conservation and species protections.
Together, we can make our habitats count.