From the foreword:
" [...] Many of the amphibians and reptiles of Cyprus are under threat. Cyprus holds, for example, some of the most important nesting beaches of Green Turtles in the Mediterranean, and these beaches are of special conservation concern. The tiny population of the Cyprus Grass Snake, an endemic subspecies of the European Grass Snake, is seriously threatened with extinction. Also the populations of other members of the herpetofauna are jeopardized mainly by habitat degradation through inappropriate land use and various forms of nature unfriendly land management practices. The book carefully analyses these factors and makes recommendations for conservation and management. I hope that this book will help stimulate conservation efforts to protect the islandis unique community of species.
The first edition of the book was published in 2009, and the great interest in this publication made it possible to produce this second edition after a relatively short period. Both the team of authors and the publisher are to be praised for their efforts to revise the first edition not only by introducing some minor amendments, but also by adding the most recent scientific and other information on Cyprus’ herpetofauna, including information on the recently described Cyprus Water Frog. The book is an impressive compilation of our knowledge of the herpetofauna of Cyprus and constitutes a useful guide for scientists, conservationists and interested laypersons.[...]"