Beyond anti-trafficking efforts, protecting the forest habitats pangolins depend on is essential for their long-term welfare and survival. Deforestation threatens pangolin populations across Africa and Asia.
Pangolin habitat welfare operates at the landscape scale — without sufficient quality habitat containing abundant ant and termite colonies, pangolins cannot meet their caloric requirements and populations decline through chronic nutritional stress. Forest fragmentation forces pangolins to traverse open areas where they are more vulnerable to poaching. Community forest management programs that provide sustainable livelihood alternatives to deforestation and poaching address both habitat and direct persecution simultaneously. Restoring degraded forests adjacent to pangolin populations can expand effective habitat over time. Pangolin presence in intact forest is itself an indicator of ecosystem health — their habitat conservation benefits many other species sharing the same forest ecosystems.