A new report released says that dragonflies and damselflies are in decline.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has found that dragonflies and damselflies are in decline due to the destruction of the world's wetlands. The loss of free-flowing rivers, marshes and swamps caused by urbanisation and agriculture, which has resulted in the decline of dragonflies and damselflies on a global scale.
This is the first global assessment of dragonflies. The IUCN has found that wetlands are disappearing THREE TIMES faster than forests.
The IUCN has found that 16% of dragonflies and damselflies are at risk of extinction. They have also found that the freshwater ecosystems that these beautiful animals rely on for their existence are deteriorating.
They have found that in South and Southeast Asia that there is a unique threat to dragonflies: they have found that a quatre of dragonflies in South and Southeast Asia are threatened with extinction due to the destruction of rainforests and wetlands there, to make room for palm oil plantations.
They found that the decline in dragonflies in central and South America was to do with the clearance of rainforests for construction purposes.
In North America and Europe, the biggest threat to dragonflies is pesticides, climate change and other pollutants. The IUCN also found that pesticides, climate change and other pollutes were harming dragonflies on a global scale.
Dragonflies and damselflies are beautiful insects.
The decline in these beautiful insects is an indication of the harm that we are doing to the world's ecosystems and the world's wildlife. Small animals like insects give us an indication as to whether or not our ecosystems are healthy. If small animals decline and disappear, then bigger animals will too.
We need to preserve our remaining wetlands, stop their destruction and rewild if we are going to stop the decline in animals like dragonflies and damselflies. We also need to stop the use of harmful practices - like using pesticides and other harmful chemicals, so that we can stop their decline and the decline of other insects.
You can read the full report - here.
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