Introduction: a monitoring project on threatened Italian amphibians and reptiles.

To develop a monitoring programme on the threatened species of amphibians and reptiles, the Ministry of the Environment financed a project proposed by the Department of Biology of Roma Tre University. Several specialists were engaged to produce an updated review of our knowledges on 10 species of amphibians and 11 species of reptiles of the Italian fauna, in order to assess their conservation status and to plan the management of their populations