Dear John,
September brings one of the world’s most beautiful migrations: the journey of
the monarch butterfly. But monarchs are more at risk than ever before, and we’re
fighting to protect them from extinction. Help save the monarch butterfly: Donate $10 to Friends of the Earth.
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Western monarchs have declined by over 99%. Eastern monarchs aren’t far behind,
with populations down by 80%. These iconic butterflies are at risk of
disappearing forever. A key factor in their decline is glyphosate -- a.k.a.
Bayer-Monsanto’s Roundup®.
At Friends of the Earth, we’re working to get this toxic pesticide out of our
food system -- but we need your help!
Help save monarchs from Bayer-Monsanto’s Roundup®: Donate $10 or more right now!
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[[link removed]]The migration of the monarch butterfly is unlike any other. Each fall, millions
of these colorful creatures leave their summer feeding and breeding grounds and
travel up to 3,000 miles south to reach their overwintering grounds in Mexico
and California. No other insect in the world migrates such a distance, to places
it has never been before.
The monarch is the only butterfly known to make a two-way migration as birds do.
But unlike any other great migrators, like birds or caribou, none of these
individual butterflies will ever return. Instead, after the winter, they will
fly part of the way back north, where they will mate and lay eggs on only one
plant: milkweed. There, their eggs will hatch into colorful caterpillars, feed
on the milkweed, and eventually transform into butterflies before continuing
north on their migration. It can take up to four generations to complete the
round trip.
This migration is unique, remarkable, and fragile. Think about it: No individual
butterfly will ever complete the migration. It is a team effort -- an epic,
intergenerational journey hardwired into their DNA. Another thing that makes
this migration different from any other is that it is entirely reliant on one
plant: milkweed.
But across large swaths of the U.S., milkweed has been wiped out by
Bayer-Monsanto’s Roundup ® , and the monarch butterflies that depend on it are being decimated.
Help stop Monsanto from driving monarch butterflies to extinction. Donate $10 to
Friends of the Earth before it's too late.
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will go through immediately:
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[[link removed]]What’s worse, a new study confirms what we have long feared: milkweed, vital to
the survival of the monarchs, is contaminated by toxic pesticides. This study
found every single sample of milkweed was contaminated -- scientists found 64
different pesticides, and a third of samples contained pesticides at levels
known to be deadly to monarchs.
This poisoning of the only food source for monarch caterpillars is one more
devastating factor driving monarchs to the brink.
For the second year in a row, less than 30,000 western monarchs were sighted in
California, down from 1.2 million two decades ago. Current populations are only
1% of what they were in the 1980s. Eastern monarch populations are also nearing
the point of no return -- the latest annual count found the number overwintering
in Mexico fell by 50% from the prior year. Monarchs are being driven to
extinction.
And it’s all for the sake of corporate greed. Big Ag and fossil fuel
corporations are driving monarch butterfly decline through pesticide use,
climate change, and habitat loss. One of the worst culprits is Bayer-Monsanto’s
Roundup®, which is killing off young monarchs’ only food source, milkweed.
Bayer-Monsanto’s toxic Roundup® wipes out plants like milkweed to make room for
“profitable” crops to grow. For the sake of a payday, Big Ag is turning diverse,
life-filled landscapes into toxic monocultures that destroy soil and
biodiversity and wreck our climate. Industrial agriculture is a key factor
driving 40% of invertebrate pollinators, including monarchs and bees, toward
extinction.
Will you stop Bayer-Monsanto from wiping out monarch butterflies and other
pollinators with a $10 donation to Friends of the Earth?
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will go through immediately:
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[[link removed]]At Friends of the Earth, we know how to beat Big Ag and save our endangered
species. Our comprehensive strategy includes a nationwide ban on glyphosate and
other toxic pesticides that kill bees and butterflies. At the same time, we’re
pushing major grocery companies, like Kroger, to stop selling food grown with
these chemicals. This is the kind of bold campaigning that can shift us away
from pesticide-intensive agriculture and make pollinator- and people-friendly
organic food available for all. And it’s powered by our members like you.
Our plan has the power to win protections for monarch butterflies, people and
the planet. But we don’t have much time, and we need your help to get there.
The migration of the monarch butterfly is one of the irreplaceable wonders of
our world. We can’t, we won’t, allow this precious pollinator to be driven to
extinction for the sake of corporate profits.
Together, we can hold corporations accountable and protect monarchs for the long
haul. Donate $10 now and help save the monarch butterfly!
If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your donation
will go through immediately:
Donate $10 immediately
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[[link removed]]Thank you,
Lisa Archer,
Food and agriculture program director,
Friends of the Earth
Contact Us:Friends of the Earth U.S.
Washington, D.C. | Berkeley, CA
1-877-843-8687
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