Despite the growing global interest in the role of trees in ecosystem restoration as part of the solution to the global climate crisis, projects and programmes often fail to achieve their restoration targets. Underlying this failure are deficiencies in stakeholder engagement, from the local community to policy levels, and the absence of an enabling policy environment. Communities also often have a keen sense of landscape stewardship, possessing extensive local knowledge and experience. Actively harnessing and integrating this knowledge is vital for restoration success. At the same time, poor coherence between policies regarding tree restoration fail to support one another across sectors, resulting in a lack of understanding of wider benefits and risks. This chapter uses a case study in the drylands of northern Nigeria. It undertakes policy analysis and community engagement activities to address the following research questions: (i) To what extent do policies recognise the role of trees in fostering mitigation, adaptation, and development in Nigeria?, (ii) What is the level of policy coherence across sectors, and what are the barriers and solutions to strengthen the coherence of tree restoration efforts across government levels?, and (iii) How can local communities be engaged in initiatives to revive, plant, and care for trees over the long term? We conclude that although the role of trees in ecosystem restoration is prominent in many policies, there is a lack of coherence across sectors. However, addressing policy coherence issues is only part of any solution. We show that there is considerable local knowledge about, and appetite for, tree restoration among smallholder farmers and their associated communities. Ensuring a suitable enabling policy and agriculture extension service environment will help build on the desires of local communities. Doing so will further support countries across dryland Africa to meet their aspirations on ecosystem restoration, tree planting and the associated benefits for climate change mitigation, adaptation and improved livelihoods.