US government, conservationists launch drive to save monarch butterfly

A monarch butterfly clings to a plant at the Monarch Grove Sanctuary in Pacific Grove, California, in this Dec 30, 2014 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

The plants have been eradicated or severely degraded in many parts of the United States in recent years.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is putting up $2 million in addition to funds it previously allocated to monarch conservation efforts, including improving more than 200,000 acres (81,000 hectares) of habitat while supporting over 750 schoolyard habitats and pollinator gardens.

The Fish and Wildlife Service funding will go toward on-the-ground conservation projects stretching from California to the Midwest corn belt, with $1.2 million anchoring a grant distribution fund for farmers and other private landowners who preserve habitat, the first funding effort of its kind.

The Center for Biological Diversity and other groups last year urged the Fish and Wildlife Service to list the monarch as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, which would allow greater protections for monarch habitat.