Ridley Park resident Lisa Robinson has been helping the Monarch Butterfly, survive, working from her own backyard, writes Matteo Iadonisi for 6abc.com.

She’s been trying to save them from extinction for the last decade.

“In school, when we were little, it wasn’t unusual for us to see a monarch in our playground or in our gardens,” she said. “Unfortunately, the monarch is on a serious decline.”

The Monarch population has dropped 80 percent over the past 20 years.

Robinson managed to care for 262 caterpillars this season, but points out there were 504 in 2018.

Robinson is a citizen scientist with Monarch Watch, a non-profit that monitors the butterfly population through non-harmful tagging.

She has milkweed in her garden where monarchs exclusively lay eggs. She salvages the eggs and shelters the caterpillars until they emerge as Monarch Butterflies, when she tags and releases them.

After the butterflies migrate to Mexico, locals report their sightings in an online database.

Monarch habitats are being affected by global warming, habitat loss and pesticide use.

Robinson visits local schools to educate students about the monarch’s life cycle. This year, she’s doing it virtually.

Read more about this effort to save the Monarch butterfly here.

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