On May 21st 2024, the City of Tempe and Mayor Corey Woods has committed to conserve monarch populations and affirmed it's goal to be a Mayor's Monarch City.

Monarch and Pollinator Pledge:

Tempe, Arizona, is about 40 square miles nestled in the greater Phoenix metro area, all within the Sonoran Desert. Tempe is home to about 185,000+ residents, and with those residents, the city has embarked on a multifaceted approach to nurture and encourage monarch butterfly and other pollinator populations. Tempe collaborates with local environmental organizations, ASU, and the community through a variety of interventions, including: educational programs, plantings in public spaces and gardens, and future inclusion in city plans. With unwavering dedication, Tempe serves as a shining example of how urban areas can actively contribute to the conservation of monarch butterflies and other pollinators.

2024 Action Items: 

• Issue a proclamation to raise awareness about the decline of the monarch butterfly and the species’ need for habitat. This proclamation must incorporate a focus on monarch conservation.
  • Watch the proclamation here via YouTube. 
  • Read the press release here.  
    
    
• Launch or maintain a public communication effort to encourage residents to plant monarch gardens at their homes or in their neighborhoods.
  
  
• Engage with city parks and recreation, public works, sustainability, and other relevant staff to identify opportunities to revise and maintain mowing programs and milkweed / native nectar plant planting programs.
  
  
• Engage with developers, planners, landscape architects, and other community leaders and organizers engaged in planning processes to identify opportunities to create monarch habitat.
  
  
• Host or support a native seed or plant sale, giveaway or swap.
  
  
• Plant or maintain a monarch and pollinator-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or another prominent or culturally significant community location.
  
  
• Plant milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants along roadsides, medians, or public rights-of-way.
  
  
• Initiate or support community science (or citizen science) efforts that help monitor monarch migration and health.

Is there an action you'd like to help the city to undertake? Contact us!