Presents a discussion of the state of ecological mapping in Russia and the republics of the former USSR. The main directions, theoretical concepts and methods of ecological mapping are analysed, and the historical beginnings of ecological mapping are noted. The first phyto-ecological map was of Asiatic Russia and appeared in 1977. The subject has subsequently extended to include zoogeography, ecosystems, ecological situations, conditions and problems and landscapes. Evaluative ecological maps have appeared, but prognostic and prescriptive ecological maps are as yet few. -P.Cooke