Montrealer embarks on 4,500 km run to Mexico for the monarch butterfly

A Montreal lawyer began his 4,500-kilometre journey to Mexico on Saturday in support of the endangered monarch butterfly.

39-year-old Anthony Battah plans to complete the trek on foot, averaging 50 kilometres every day for three months.

The trip is called the Monarch Ultra Trail—which mirrors the monarch’s migration path.

Monarch butterflies are important pollinators, but their population has been under significant decline for decades.

“What’s basically happening to them, I think, is (...) a reflection of what is happening to us at a different level,” he said.

Battah hopes to inspire the next generation to take up the torch, including his 10-year-old daughter, who will be travelling alongside him in an RV.

“It’s to show our daughter that we can do something. We just have to begin somewhere, so that’s the beginning for us,” said Nancy Lapointe, Battah’s wife.

Battah is running the first 50 kilometres of his trek to Vaudreuil-Dorion and is inviting others to join him along the way.