It is known that the monarch butterflies are among the most widely recognized butterflies in North America that are disappearing at rapid speed. But experts suggest that the property owners can help balance their population by setting aside monarch 'way stations' filled with milkweed and other nectar-rich plants.

Orley 'Chip' Taylor, an ecology professor at the University of Kansas and founding director of Monarch Watch, a conservation and research group, said that the area of milkweed-monarch habitat loss since 1996 is believed to be an area roughly the size of Texas.

"We're not looking at extinction, but the migration could decline to the point at which recovery could take many years - if ever", Taylor said.

According to the Xerces Society, in 1990s, nearly 1 billion monarch butterflies made their flight from the northern US and Canada to the oyamel fir forests north of Mexico City. Another 1 million overwintered in forested groves on the California coast, it stated.

The conservation group said in a statement that only about 56.5 million monarchs are remaining as per present estimates given by researchers and citizen scientists.

The estimate represents a decline of more than 80 % from the 21-year average across North America, it said.

Taylor affirmed that the monarch population will be saved only if there will be commitments from both top to bottom (government) and bottom to top (citizens) for the restoration of monarch habitats.

Way stations can be placed in or near existing gardens and should be at least 100 square feet in size. Butterflies and butterfly plants need at least six hours ofsunlight per day, said experts.