Saving Butterflies With Public Spaces, Mayors' Monarch Pledge

YONKERS, NY — Just in time for Earth Week, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano, on Tuesday, signed a pledge aimed at helping his teeniest and most colorful flying constituents.

Spano added his name to the National Wildlife Federation’s “Mayors' Monarch Pledge.” In signing the non-binding agreement, elected officials promise to take actions to help save the declining monarch butterfly population.

With Spano's signature, Yonkers joins a growing number of municipalities creating monarch butterfly preserves in local parks and public spaces to help stem the decline of the migratory butterflies.

“In 1996, monarch butterflies numbered around 1 billion in the U.S. Today, their numbers have declined significantly as a result of numerous threats, particularly the loss of habitat due to urban development, agricultural practices and climate change,” Spano said in a statement announcing his support for the initiative. “More than being beautiful, monarch butterflies contribute to the health of our planet. In Yonkers, we are committing ourselves to the conservation of the monarch butterfly by planting milkweed and other plantings across the city.”

The Yonkers Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, will initially create monarch butterfly habitat preserves at nine public spaces. New safe spaces for butterflies in Yonkers will include Lincoln Park, Conor Park, Cook Field, Rory O’Moore Field, Old Croton Aqueduct and the Parks Department Headquarters.

New butterfly-friendly plantings will be a healthy mix of colorful and inviting sounding flowering vegetation, including husker red, meadow ballet blend, profusion orange, blazing star, black nigh, pow wow wild berry as well as butterfly weed and feather reed grasses. The restored butterfly habitats in Yonkers will add to more than 6,500 acres of monarch habitat across the country now being protected through the program.

“The Parks Department is committed to participating in this important initiative through our nursery division,” Deputy Director of Yonkers Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation Steve Sansone said. “It is hoped that doing our small part in our parkland and on our right of ways will help protect this species and encourage others to follow.”