?Dragonflies are natural sentinels of our freshwater resources, signalling the health of aquatic ecosystems. To ensure the long-term survival of these insects, and other creatures that share their habitats, we must include them more widely in biodiversity conservation efforts and policies.
This is the key recommendation of a group of international dragonfly experts, including scientists from Stellenbosch 中国体育彩票's Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology.
Action plan
In a recent review* published in Insect Conservation and Diversity, they proposed the following five-point action plan to promote dragonflies in freshwater and riverbank conservation: expanding and enhancing dragonfly assessment and monitoring; including dragonflies in standard environmental toxicological risk assessment; learning from dragonflies to improve landscape conservation efforts; ensuring the integration of dragonflies with other plant and animal conservation initiatives; and promoting dragonflies in environmental education.
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According to the scientists, global dragonfly conservation hinges on these five actions implemented across different regions and landscapes and by various stakeholders.
They explain why conserving dragonflies matters: “Dragonflies are a key component of freshwater and neighbouring land ecosystems. Importantly, they have been especially valuable for assessing water and land quality. Groups of dragonfly species in a defined habitat can tell us a lot about deteriorating environmental conditions and the requirements to restore degraded habitats."
They point out that dragonflies are threatened by a range of factors, including habitat loss, landscape transformation, pollution, changes in water movement and management, and the spread of invasive alien species—all of which are driven by human activities.
“Overarching these threats—which often interact—is the ongoing challenge of global climate change and its associated extreme weather events."
The scientists add that dragonflies could also help us to measure the success of conservation efforts. Some examples include the global reduction of human exploitation of wetlands through sustainable land-use practices, beaver reintroduction programmes in Europe, habitat restoration programmes including management of highly invasive alien species, sustainable drainage systems development in cities to enhance resilience to extreme weather and water-related events (which also creates new dragonfly habitats), and clean energy projects.
The researchers say that it is important to continue and expand the assessment and monitoring of dragonfly population sizes, distributions and the groups of species that live in specific areas. This information feeds into international conservation prioritisation frameworks and initiatives for understanding conservation risks and declines relative to human pressures and ongoing climate change.
“Monitoring and evaluation during the early stages of conservation programmes are critical to ensure that dragonfly populations, habitats and ecosystems are effectively assessed over time. This approach also helps to quantify threats and measure the level of conservation success. Information gathered through assessment and monitoring must be translated into practical conservation efforts and policy decisions.
“By including dragonflies in broader conservation initiatives, conservation policies and management globally will become more effective. We need policies that focus on overall biodiversity protection, with dragonflies being an important component."
Local expertise
The scientists say that dragonflies' ability to survive under different environmental conditions depends on the traits or characteristics of individual species.
“For some species, these traits may help them adapt to or benefit from human activities, such as creation of ponds. Others, however, may lack these traits, making them vulnerable to local extinction. While databases on the traits of dragonflies are expanding, other unknown characteristics may also play a role in their ability to adapt to changing environments."
The researchers call for conservation efforts that link water and land, improve connectivity between habitats, and better maintain water and soil quality. According to them, the landscape approach is based on the idea that efforts to protect dragonflies will also benefit other organisms that share similar habitats and requirements.
They add that building a solid base of knowledge and enhancing local expertise is key to understanding dragonflies better and improving conservation efforts.
“Updating regional species lists and developing field guides and digital applications help with species identification. These resources also have great potential to develop knowledge on how they live in ecosystems and interact with plants and animals they share these ecosystems with."
Dragonflies are iconic and charismatic, adding to their appeal in environmental education across multiple age and racial groups, the scientists say. They emphasise the value of citizen science in enhancing research on conservation and management requirements.
“Understanding the cultural role of dragonflies across various regions, will, in turn, spark interest in them, encourage a desire to protect them, and feed into policymaking.
“The protection of dragonflies should be promoted more widely by using a variety of media platforms to bring public attention to the conservation of their habitats. Finding new ways to involve diverse societies can help ensure that the true value of dragonflies as sentinels for conservation is realised."
- Source: M Samways et al (2025). Scientists' warning on the need for greater inclusion of dragonflies in global conservation. Insect Conservation and Diversity. DOI: 10.1111/icad.12819
*This review was done in collaboration between scientists from South Africa, Mexico, Portugal, Australia, The Netherlands, Brazil, the United States of America, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Czechia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Argentina, Colombia, and Sweden.?
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