Using POLLi for monarch CCAA compliance monitoring
The June 2025 monitoring protocol addendum officially authorizes the use of remote sensing, including drone-based imagery, to fulfill monitoring requirements under the Nationwide Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) for Monarch Butterflies. POLLi played a key role in developing this new protocol and is specifically designed to assist Partners in compliance.
Here’s how to use POLLi to meet your CCAA monitoring obligations:
Step-by-Step Guidance
1.Confirm Eligibility
Ensure your organization is enrolled in the Monarch CCAA and has designated acres for conservation. POLLi can help you prepare and manage your compliance monitoring across these areas.
2. Create a Remote Sensing Plan
Before field sampling begins, with the help of POLLi, determine:
Sampling locations (randomized across adopted acres)
Target outputs (milkweed stem counts and nectar plant cover)
Monitoring timing (during peak bloom)
Compliance with CCAA regional thresholds
3. Conduct Flights and Collect Data
Utilize high-resolution color drone imagery (e.g., 0.25 cm ground sample distance, GSD) to collect plant data. POLLi analyzes this imagery with trained AI models to identify and measure:
Individual milkweed stems (≥90% detection accuracy)
Percent cover of potentially flowering nectar plant
4. Analyze with Confidence
POLLi ensures
Accurate geo-location within adopted acres
No double-counting due to image overlap
Repeatable, validated methods with supporting accuracy documentation
5. Report Results for Compliance
POLLi generates outputs that align directly with the Monarch CCAA’s required reporting formats:
Option 1: Align results with the CCAA Table 14-2 monitoring fields.
Option 2: Report stems per acre and percent cover of nectar plants by sampled area.
6. Hybrid Monitoring (Optional)
Want to combine field plots with remote sensing? POLLi supports a hybrid approach to meet minimum or enhanced (150%) monitoring requirements, opening the door to additional compliance discounts.
Why Use POLLi?
CCAA-Aligned: Developed in direct alignment with the 2025 protocol Pollinator-Focused: Built to detect key species like milkweed and nectar plants
Streamlined: Saves time and cost versus in-field only monitoring
Accurate and Auditable: Meets or exceeds the 90% accuracy requirement
Flexible Deployment: Supports full or hybrid monitoring methods
Software enables a standardized report for the Program Administrator.
Get Started
If you’re Monarch CCAA Partner interested in using POLLi for your upcoming monitoring cycle, please visit our Resources page or contact us through the Contact Us page to schedule a demo or learn more.
