Journey North: Symbolic Monarch Butterfly Migration

Sorry, this year's deadline for sending butterflies has expired.

Welcome to the Symbolic Migration 2011-2012!
The 16th annual "Symbolic Monarch Butterfly Migration" is now taking place across North America. Over 60,000 students in the United States and Canada create symbolic butterflies and send them to Mexico for the winter. Children in Mexico who live beside the monarch's winter sanctuaries protect the butterflies and send them north in the spring. Through the Symbolic Migration, children across North America are united by the monarch butterfly and celebrate its spectacular migration. Throughout the school year, they learn authentic lessons of ambassadorship, conservation, and international cooperation.

About the Symbolic Migration:
The butterflies' fall flight is timed to correspond with the real monarchs' journey south. The paper butterflies arrive in Mexico around the time of the Day of the Dead/Dia de los Muertos (November 2), just as the real monarchs do. According to Mexican legend, these returning butterflies are thought to carry the ancestors' souls and play a role in the Dia de los Muertos celebrations.

Mexican students from the sanctuary region greet the butterflies. At the same time in the mountains nearby, the entire eastern population of North American monarch butterflies are arriving in Mexico for the winter. Sometime in March, when the real monarchs' departure from Mexico is announced, the paper butterflies return. The symbolic butterflies carry a message from the Mexican students to the students in Canada and U. S. who made them.

Join the Celebration!
The symbolic migration serves as a symbol of international cooperation and stewardship, the kind necessary for the survival of the monarch's spectacular migration. Your participation in this symbolic event represents tremendous international support for the monarch. Join the fun!