Disney VoluntEARS Spend 1,000+ Hours Growing Habitats for Migrating Monarchs

Disney employees and cast members from coast to coast got their hands dirty this spring and summer to grow habitats for migrating monarch butterflies. During the season, more than 650 Disney VoluntEARS spent time in the beautiful outdoors contributing more than 1,200 volunteer hours to discover, plant, and care for appropriate pollinator-friendly plants for their region. In many parts of the country, this meant planting native milkweed, the unique host plant of the monarch butterfly.   

Why do Monarch Butterflies Need Help? 

Monarchs are an important part of a healthy North American ecosystem but have faced a 90 percent population decline over the past two decades, largely due to loss of habitat that provides critical resources during their annual migration. In order to counter this loss of habitat, conservationists emphasize the importance of growing native plants that support these pollinator populations. Many butterflies, like monarchs, depend upon “host plants” – particular species of plants where that butterfly species will lay their eggs. For monarchs, milkweed is the only plant that monarch caterpillars will eat, and monarch butterfly mothers only lay their eggs on milkweed. 

Disney Conservation Team Gets Disney VoluntEARS Growing 

To help support monarch populations and their migration journeys, the Disney Conservation team distributed native California milkweed seeds to more than 200 VoluntEARS, who each pledged to plant their seeds to support the growth of new habitat that monarch butterflies depend on. 

To maximize the bloom and benefit for monarchs, the Disney Conservation Fund (DCF) donated remaining seeds from the April event to the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy (AFC), a long-time DCF grant recipient focused on preserving land and restoring habitat in and around California’s San Gabriel and Crescenta Valleys. Disney VoluntEARS then joined the AFC team to plant the seeds at the beautiful Rosemont Preserve in La Crescenta. Together, they prepared starter trays of seedlings that will be used to create gardens for next year’s migrating monarchs. With this event, a total of more than 900 Disney VoluntEARS participated in this year’s efforts to support this incredible species. 

How Disney Continues to Nurture Butterflies 

Over the past three years, Disney VoluntEARS have supported migrating monarch butterfly populations through at-home planting events, providing a cumulative 7,466 hours of service. 

At Walt Disney World, Disney conservationists are helping to expand habitats for pollinators across the resort and leading research and monitoring efforts that have shown more than 100 species of pollinators using these habitats to date.  

Through its leadership of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Saving Animals from Extinction program for North American monarch butterflies, Disney has also brought together more than 100 AZA institutions across the United States and Canada to engage audiences, increase collaboration, and improve the species’ conservation status in North America. A recent grant from the Disney Conservation Fund will  support Monarch Joint Venture’s efforts to coordinate monarch conservation activities across this network over the next year.  

These efforts are all a part of Disney Planet Possible – the company’s commitment to take meaningful and measurable action to support a healthier planet for people and wildlife. To learn more, visit DisneyPlanetPossible.com.