Global experts rally for dragonfly conservation

Dragonflies are natural sentinels of our freshwater resources, signalling the health of aquatic ecosystems, and 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.

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This is the key recommendation of a group of international dragonfly experts, including scientists from Stellenbosch University's Department of Conservation Ecology and Entomology.

In a recent review (M Samways: “Scientists’ warning on the need for greater inclusion of dragonflies in global conservation”), 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.

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.