UK dragonfly and damselfly populations depend on clean freshwater habitats, and their welfare is affected by water quality, habitat loss, and climate change.
While insect sentience remains scientifically uncertain, dragonfly larvae spending years in polluted or degraded habitats face conditions that compromise their physiological functioning. Aquatic insects in heavily polluted water experience physiological stress responses, impaired development, and reduced survival. The welfare-relevant question extends beyond individual suffering to the systemic health of aquatic ecosystems that support billions of individual invertebrate lives.