This document summarizes Luca Montanarella's long career working to protect soil biodiversity in Europe. It discusses the development of soil mapping and atlases to increase understanding of European soils. It also outlines the European Union's Soil Thematic Strategy from 2006 which established four pillars to prevent soil degradation and restore degraded soils through awareness, research, legislation, and policy integration. The strategy recognized soils provide key services like biomass production, nutrient storage, biodiversity habitat, and more. Recent initiatives include the Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas and plans to develop a new EU Soil Strategy and Observatory to monitor soils and support policies under the European Green Deal.