Insect conservation remains a complex discipline, with progress thwarted by both incomplete scientific understanding and widespread lack of public and political goodwill and sympathy. Of necessity, it is often pursued with inadequate knowledge and understanding of focal species and their environments and of the number of insect species present in any such environment. Yet insects, widely believed to be the most diverse animals in most terrestrial and inland water ecosystems throughout the world, are vulnerable to many environmental changes flowing from human activities. This chapter is a short introduction to the scope of insect conservation and how it may be pursued, to aid perspective for the remainder of the book.