We are seemingly locked into a downward spiral of ecological degradation, biodiversity loss, and a climate emergency. Ecological restoration aims to improve the ecological trajectory of degraded ecosystems. Ecosystem declines threaten human health. Dramatic changes in human behavior and government policy are essential, but will only occur through a profound paradigm shift explicitly linking human and ecological health. We outline the case for ecological restoration as a ‘public health intervention’, and provide an action plan that enables the required paradigm shift.