Dragonflies: Conservation

(asked on 15th December 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the finding in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species that 16 per cent of (1) dragonflies, and (2) damselflies, are under threat of extinction, what steps they are taking to (a) conserve, and (b) protect, rare and threatened dragonflies in England.


This question was answered on 29th December 2021

The Government is concerned by the recent findings of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, that 16 percent of dragonflies and damselflies are under threat of extinction globally. In England, 12 percent of the dragonflies and damselflies that breed here are threatened.

As set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan, the Government is committed to taking action to recover our threatened native species. Natural England is taking action to conserve threatened dragonflies and damselflies through its Species Recovery Programme. For example, southern damselfly populations are being monitored and habitat condition improved. Under the ‘Back from the Brink’ partnership, habitat has been restored in Dorset, resulting in increased populations of southern damselfly at 3 out of 4 of sites.

In England we have an extensive network of protected wildlife areas providing benefits for many species, including sites specifically designated for species of particular importance. A total of 93 SSSIs in England are notified for important dragonfly or damselfly populations, including threatened species such as Brilliant Emerald and Norfolk Hawker.

The 25 Year Environment Plan commits us to restoring 75% of our one million hectares of terrestrial and freshwater protected sites to favourable condition by 2042.

Reticulating Splines