A multifaceted group of Missourians is addressing what is becoming a growing threat to our environment: the loss of pollinators.
Earlier this week, which is National Pollinator Awareness Week, Missourians for Monarchs announced its goal of restoring 385,000 acres of pollinator habitat over the next 20 years.
The group is composed of residents, state agencies, businesses and conservation organizations. It is partnering with the Missouri Department of Conservation, Department of Natural Resources and Department of Agriculture to help achieve this goal through educational and practical efforts.
The monarch butterfly population alone has declined by an estimated 90 percent in the past 20 years, we reported in a Thursday story. Pollinating animals have suffered from loss of habitat, chemical misuse, introduced and invasive plant and animal species, and diseases and parasites, according to Pollinator Partnership, a national organization that aims to promote the health of pollinators, critical to food and ecosystems, through conservation, education, and research.
The problem has the ability to affect us all. More than a third of the world's crops - an estimated $216 billion annually - depend on various creatures to bring pollen from one flower to another. That could put in jeopardy farmers' ability to feed the planet in the future.
Department of Conservation Director Sara Parker Pauley, who read the proclamation issued by Gov. Eric Greitens in May, said humans play a key role in maintaining the butterfly population.
She said pollinators such as the monarch "demonstrate the important and complex relationship between people and the land."
Some researchers have been studying the possibility of mini "bee" drones that would act as pollinators.
Groups such as Missourians for Monarchs aren't waiting for solutions such as that to become reality. We commend them for acting now to address this very real problem for our environment.
You, too, can help. Consider planting a pollinator garden, providing a nesting habitat and limiting use of pesticides.