The lack of data on species is a major concern as it impedes any conservation or remedial action.
In western Europe the removal of hedgerows, an expanding road network, increasing use of fertilizer and pesticides and the drainage of wetlands is having a significant impact on the number and distribution of many species. Pollution of fresh water systems and the construction of hydro-electric dams and canals play havoc on aquatic species such asthe desmans and water shrews.
In south east Asia human encroachment into tropical forests and wetland drainage is destroying prime habitat, leading to habitat fragmentation and the isolation of small, vulnerable populations.
Due to the secretive and nocturnal behaviour of many insectivores they have been neglected or overlooked in many field surveys and as a consequence little is known about the distribution, behaviour or ecology of these animals. Fossil evidence indicates that the most primitive placental animals were insectivores, with todays species representative of the ancestral stock from which modern mammals derived.