The Blue Ridge Butterfly Monitoring Program is focused on monitoring butterfly populations in and around protected lands along the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. It works closely with the Carolinas Butterfly Monitoring Program, which oversees the butterfly monitoring on the North Carolina section of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The focus is currently on routes in the Blue Ridge Parkway. This community science-based program partners with various non-profit and government organizations, uses a modified Pollard Walk protocol to monitor butterfly populations, encourages interaction between the general public and professional biologists, and provides data to researchers evaluating the health of insect populations and their habitat in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was officially launched in 2024.
To learn about becoming a volunteer or get information about accessing data, follow this link to the North American Butterfly Monitoring Network (NABMN) page:
NABMN: Blue Ridge Butterfly Monitoring Program
PollardBase is an online system for managing butterfly monitoring programs.