Conservation biology, the science of preserving biodiversity, is fast emerging as a major new discipline which incorporates biological principles in the design of effective strategies for the sustainable management of population, species and entire ecosystems. The course introduce students to explore factors that have lead to the alarming loss of biodiversity and in particular habitat fragmentation, disturbance and non-sustainable use of species and populatios in terrestrial ecosystem, considering the animal species. Goal of the course is an overview on the international agreements, European directives and national laws in the field of conservation and use of natural resources.