Through the Symbolic Migration Project, youth can become active participants in monarch conservation. Families, home schools, nature centers, youth groups, and classrooms are welcome to participate!

Group leaders can access lessons and activities that engage youth in monarch biology and ecology. Participants create Ambassador and life-sized monarch butterflies out of paper that are shipped to Mexico. These symbolic butterflies are delivered to youth who attend schools near the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR) in central Mexico along with an environmental lesson.

Each Ambassador becomes a gift to the youth who receives it. United by the monarch butterfly, youth in Mexico, the United States, and Canada celebrate and pledge to protect monarchs and their extraordinary migration.

The postmark deadline is October 7, 2022. To cover the costs of the project, participants buy a $15 “Passenger Ticket” for each Ambassador Butterfly folder submitted. These funds support school visits in Mexico to deliver the Ambassador butterflies and provide conservation education.

For more information, or to participate, visit the Symbolic Monarch Migration Project webpage, or email the Environmental Education Alliance.

The Symbolic Migration project is a partnership project between Journey North, a program of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum, and Monarchs Across Georgia, a committee of The Environmental Education Alliance, a 501(c)(3) organization. Journey North manages the interactive Symbolic Migration Participant Maps and hosts all educational materials on the Journey North website. Monarchs Across Georgia administers the program and is responsible for all fundraising.