I agree that the effort and money spent on conservation is skewed in favor of cute and furry animals. But there is a real upside to getting rid of mosquitoes. From the article:

Malaria infects some 247 million people worldwide each year, and kills nearly one million. Mosquitoes cause a huge further medical and financial burden by spreading yellow fever, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, Rift Valley fever, Chikungunya virus and West Nile virus.