JAime Rojo has been following the fate of the monarch butterfly for over 20 years. In it, the Spanish photographer has seen one of the world’s most iconic insects succumb to habitat destruction, climate change, pesticides, drought and fire. predatory. The population has fallen in this direction.
It’s a fascinating, disturbing story that will be recognized next month when Rojo is presented with the coveted award for his photography at the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London.
The magnificence of the king – and the human responses to it – is revealed in his amazing photos and can be important in supporting the efforts of conservationists, scientists and local people who are now trying to deal with the threat facing these amazing refugees.
“When I first went to the monarch sanctuary in Mexico, there were so many of them, on the floor of the forest there was a carpet of dead monarchs up to half a meter and every tree was covered with them,” Rojo said. An observer. It was amazing.
“However, things have changed. The monarchs are now very few on the ground and on the branches and their numbers have dropped dramatically. It’s been pretty cool and it’s been very stressful. “
Most estimates show that there were several hundred million butterflies – perhaps up to a billion – that used to sweep across the US and Mexico on their grand Technicolor journeys. Today, conservationists believe that the population of the continent is Danus plexippus it has declined by 90% since the 1990s.
This problem, in part, comes from the very difficult life of the king, which makes it very difficult to live in the environment and change the climate. The butterfly – which has two sets of deep orange wings with black borders and a wingspan of seven to 10 centimeters – breeds for several generations in spring and summer in the northeastern United States. Females use milkweed plants to lay eggs from which the caterpillars hatch, before they become chrysalises and then large butterflies.
In the fall, the last generation of butterflies emerges this way and flies in large clouds on a 3,000-mile journey to Mexico and California, where the butterflies can hibernate in the warm southern climate. Dr Blanca Huertas, head curator of Lepidoptera at the Natural History Museum explains: “The new generation starts to return to the north in late spring.
The sight of millions of glittering butterflies in flight is one of nature’s most beautiful sights – something Barbara Kingsolver describes vividly in her 2012 book. Flight Procedures.
In it, he compares the mass migration of glowing insects to a forest fire. “The flame seemed to rise from the top of the orange trees, and it exploded like a pine tree does in a burning fire.” The light was swirling around in the sky like clouds. The light of the gray sky.”
But the show is now falling apart. At first, conservationists thought that deforestation was the cause of the king’s disappearance. Rojo said: “We tried to fix this, but we found out that there are other reasons.
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It turned out that common weeds – the wildflowers that caterpillars depend on for food – were being destroyed by a powerful new chemical. In addition, climate change was bringing extreme heat and drought in the fall. Because of this, the chiefs had no flowers to eat when they migrated.
Rojo said: “He became very weak and could not maintain enough strength so he did not go to Mexico.” “In a sense it was a little bit of everything that was put together to slow it down.”
There is little that can be done to stop climate change in the future, but some things can be done, environmentalists argue. Planting milkweed to provide food for caterpillars and reduce pesticide use is now being encouraged by environmental groups in the US and Mexico.
Huertas said: “Education in schools is making people aware of the king and it is also very important.”
Most of these projects are recorded in the successful history of Rojo, which will be exhibited at the museum from 11 October. These include images of drones monitoring milkweed populations in the US; tagging butterflies as part of research aimed at understanding how they travel on their 3,000 kilometer odysseys; and classroom care education for children whose families live on the butterfly’s path.
“I still believe that this is a story that gives hope,” insists Rojo. “We can save the monarchs. This is one of the rare conservation cases where citizens have a say and that can make all the difference.”
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