The aim of the Important Plant Areas programme is to identify a network of the best sites for plant conservation throughout Europe. The programme is a mean of identifying and protecting the most important sites for wild plant (higher, lower plants, algae, lichens and fungi) and habitats. Three basic principles lead the IPA identification: criterion A, focusing on species contribution; criterion B, enhancing the importance of rich flora in a European context in relation to its biogeographic zone; criterion C, concentrating on the habitat of global or European plant conservation and botanical importance. We present the metodological approach to adapt the IPA programme to the Italian situation.