Conserving Helminth Parasites for Ecological Significance: Challenges and Opportunities

Parasites including helminths, are significantly recognized as integral components of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Maintaining food web stability, and influencing immune and evolutionary processes. However, global environmental change, habit loss, host extinction, and intensive disease control programs have led to the decline of many helminth species. This paper reviews the ecological importance of helminth parasites, discusses the challenges associated with the conservation and explores emerging opportunities for integrating parasite conservation into broader biodiversity and ecosystem management frameworks.