Soil protection over the last years has been given an increasing emphasis within programs and plans of land use and spatial planning on various levels. Nevertheless, it is apparent that the efforts up to now are not sufficient to protect our soils as can be seen from recent figures about the conversion of land for housing and transport development. The legal instruments of the Federal Nature Conservation Act are basically suitable to cater for the interests of soil protection when weighing different options against each other in the planning process. But in practice soil as part of the natural environment only plays a secondary role. The article tries to ascertain the reasons for this discrimination and identifies potentials for better considering soil issues within the legal instruments of nature conservation. The findings are based on existing literature as well as on the results of two relevant workshops carried out jointly by federal and Länder agencies.