Soils are relevant to society in diverse ways, supplying various economic and cultural services or functions as well as being the substrate for plants and a life-support system. Attitudes to the diverse kinds of soil resources and resulting land-use practices throughout human history indicate that mankind has frequently used other than the most fertile or easiest accessible soils. Many special techniques, such as terracing, have been developed to utilize and preserve less accessible land and shallow soil on slopes. Soil degradation and erosion following deforestation have frequently been a problem in the past, especially when some land was abandoned for cultural or economic reasons. Better data on current degree and extent of soil degradation are needed.Man has made soils fertile on a large scale, providing more secure food resources for the ever growing population. Yet, there is a growing threat to soils, in many instances, on marginal soils or in less resilient soil regions. A good environmental ethic requires equally good soil care of open spaces and of forests, woods, and deserts for better quality of life and for future generations of town and country populations. For this purpose an Eleventh Commandment was formulated a generation ago, and efforts are now being made to institute an internationally secured global treaty or soil convention for better soil care and sustainable use of soils. Soil scientists need to support such proposals and to bridge the gaps and differences between local and governmental efforts.