Attempting to recreate the original forest ecosystem by reassembling the original complement of plants and animals that once occupied the site.
David Lamb, 1994

Work necessary to restore a facility to the original constructed condition or to an acceptable condition concerning any damage resulting from natural or human causes, which exceeds that which normally occurs during annual maintenance.
USDA Forest Service, 1997

Restoration is the process of repairing damage to the diversity and dynamics of ecosystems. Ecological restoration is the process of returning an ecosystem as closely as possible to predisturbance conditions and functions. Implicit in this definition is that ecosystems are naturally dynamic; it is therefore not possible to recreate a system exactly. The restoration process reestablishes the general structure, function, and dynamic but self-sustaining behavior of the ecosystem. Restoration differs from rehabilitation in that restoration is a holistic process not achieved through the isolated manipulation of individual elements. While restoration aims to return an ecosystem to a former natural condition, rehabilitation implies putting the landscape to a new or altered use to serve a particular human purpose.
Willamette Restoration Initiatives, 1999

To re-establish the presumed structure, productivity and species diversity of the forest originally present at a site. The ecological processes and functions of the restored forest will closely match those of the original forest.
Gilmour, D.A. et al., 2000

The process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed
Society for Ecological Restoration, 2002

A management strategy applied in degraded primary forest areas. Forest restoration aims to restore the forest to its state before degradation (same function, structure and composition).
ITTO, 2002

(Restored natural/secondary forest)
Restored forest, through either planting or/and seeding, or through natural regenerating process, where restoration aims to create a species mix and ecology approaching that of the original natural forest.
Poulsen, J. 2002

(Forest Landscape) Restoration
A planned process that aims to regain ecological integrity and enhance human wellbeing in deforested or degraded forest landscapes.
WWF and IUCN, 2001

To re-establish the presumed structure, productivity and species diversity of the forest originally present at a site. (In time, the ecological processes and functions of the restored forest will closely match those of the original forest).
UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Center website

The process of intentionally altering a site to establish a defined, indigenous, historic ecosystem. The goal of this process is to emulate the structure, function, diversity, and dynamics of the specified ecosystem.
USDA-NRCS website