An overview of the restoration movement is presented, extending from its origins in forestry in the late 1990s to the landmark Bonn Challenge Ministerial Roundtable in 2011, highlighting the need to transform political commitment into action on the ground. Forest protection and the sustainable management of working forests were the primary issues that dominated the international forest agenda and shaped national policy and action in the late 1990s. The broad use of landscape planning Tools in developing countries during the 1990s started to introduce a broader landscape perspective to sectoral planning processes. The Bonn Challenge aspires to have 150 million Ha of land under restoration by 2020 and is an implementation vehicle for existing international commitments.