Recall the beauty of golden orange and black monarch butterflies. If you haven’t seen many lately, it’s because they’re fighting to survive.

As with other species, climate change has wreaked havoc on monarchs. Man’s destruction of forests in Mexico, where most monarchs overwinter, has also left the butterflies high and dry. But perhaps the heaviest blow has come from the killing of milkweed by pesticides and herbicides used along the monarchs’ migratory route. Monarchs lay eggs on milkweed, because it’s the only food emerging caterpillars will eat.

Thus, one key to the monarch’s recovery lies in the availability of native milkweed. And here’s where we can all pitch in. If we each plant some native milkweed in our yards, odds are the monarchs will come. It’s not every day we can have such a direct impact on a species’ survival.