The Federal Forest Act, introduced in 1975 with the stated aim of preserving forests and promoting forestry, makes only a minor contribution to the protection of soil in forest areas. The Federal Soil Protection Act, which is applied on a subsidiary basis, contains overall regulations, requirements, and prohibitions for soil utilisation in Germany. The Federal Forest Act should also contain regulations for forest soils that are endangered by erosion, compaction, and pollutant inputs, both from the atmosphere and from pesticides. In addition to their role in production, forest soils are significant in the storage of carbon, functioning as a filter medium for groundwater and as a water reservoir. Next to the Federal Forest Act and the Federal Soil Protection Act, forest soils are also addressed by the individual forest laws of the federal states and by certification systems for managed forests. The Federal Forest Act was to be comprehensively amended in the last government period by 2025 in order to establish uniform standards throughout Germany and to make forests sustainable and climate adapted. The subject of the present discussion is the protection of soil in managed forests in the current legal framework and proposals derived from a leaked preliminary version of the amendment with regard to forest soils. The necessity for a comprehensive revision of the Federal Forest Act is argued on the basis of the recognition of soil as a protected good, a necessity for the existence of forests.