abstract: This work is an effect of long term research, carried out in the Institute for Land Reclamation and Grassland Farming. The aim of the study is to investigate the development and application of the marginal soils database. This database is used for gathering the spatial information about the arable land and the features of the environment, necessary to define and present cartographically, using the computer techniques, the marginal agricultural lands in the regional scale. In this paper, the rules of qualifying marginal soils as agricultural soils as well as the diagnostic models are presented. Those models where used to develop the algorithms applied in spatial data processing system. Some examples of marginal soil maps together with a legend are given as well. Rational utilisation of the marginal soils is possible through ecological restitution that fulfils certain functions in the environment. The identification rules for functions and directions of ecological restitution are described in form of a model. The presented model will be used to extend the marginal soils database and for a computer-based input of selected spatial data. Figures present and explain the cartographic image of the above-mentioned spatial data. The experimental study and validation were performed in the Świętokrzyskie voivodship. The links between the problem of ecological restitution and the Biodiversity Programme, related to the accession of Poland to the EU, are described as well.