The successful approach of FAO’s Action Against Desertification programme to large-scale restoration is making degraded drylands productive again for small-scale farming, and providing economic opportunities in the Sahel region where migration has become a tradition. Key elements of the approach include consultation with village communities for their selection of species and needs for restoration; Planting the right species in the right place and at the right period in the rainy season; Use of quality native woody and herbaceous fodder seeds; Managing natural regeneration of species and planted areas through village management committees; Updating a species database for gene pool traceability, monitoring and for future uses of data and information. These efforts are now being expanded to all Great Green Wall countries. This restoration success shows that land degradation around the Sahara is not yet irreversible.