Plots, five prairies, reflooding a delta -- The cranes are flying again -- From Necedah to St. Louis via Zaragoza : a restoration learning curve -- Greening the Rainbow Nation : saving the world on a single budget? -- Awkward questions from the Windy City : why restore? to what? for whom? -- Keeping nature out? : restoring the cultural landscape of the Cinque Terre -- The last of the woods laid low? : fragile green shoots in Irish forests -- Future shock : "novel ecosystems" and climate change shake restoration's foundations -- Dreamtime in Gondwanaland -- Restoration on a grand scale : finding a home for 350,000 species -- Killing for conservation : the grim precondition for restoration in New Zealand -- The Mayan men (and women) who can (re)make the rain forest -- Making the black deserts bloom : bog restoration on the brink of extinction -- Walk like a chameleon : three trends, one story -- Conclusions : why restore?