Soil is finite, non-renewable on a human time scale, unequally distributed geographically, and fragile to land misuse and mismanagement. Yet, soil is an essential source of numerous ecosystem services (ESs) for human well-being and nature conservation. Important among these are the production of food, feed, fuel, raw material for industrial uses, and a medium for the disposal or recycling of waste. It is also a habitat for biodiversity, a reservoir for fresh and renewable water, a moderator of climate, a regulator of emission of greenhouse gases, an archive of human and planetary history, and a source of inspiration for aesthetic and cultural values of the past and future generations. Soil is not only a foundation for sustainability, but it is also considered a living entity. Thus, similar to rights-of-nature, soil also has rights to be protected, thrive, flourish, and be managed judiciously. Thus, appropriate legislation is needed for its protection, restoration, and sustainable use for specific properties (e.g., compaction, water storage, biodiversity, gaseous exchange, elemental cycling such as that of carbon) and processes (e.g., accelerated hydric and aeolian erosion, salinization, pollution, surface sealing, urbanization, etc.). Thus, legal protection of soil is needed to sustain its capacity to generate ESs for the present and future generations. Such governance is required at the regional, national, and international levels to support the livelihood of human beings while maintaining the soil quality. An example of such governance may be the establishment of a Soil Health Act to complement similar legislation for protecting water, air, and other natural resources.