Community-based coastal and marine restoration has an important role to play in meeting Australia’s conservation targets, as emphasised by the Global Biodiversity Framework’s “whole-of-society” approach to conservation. In this talk, I will discuss community-based projects that are achieving large conservation outcomes and use quantitative and qualitative data gathered from community programs across southern Australia, demonstrating that when people come together to heal nature, they can also heal themselves. Surveys of individuals that regularly volunteer in coastal restoration, compared with individuals who regularly fish for recreation or control groups that do neither, revealed that engaging in community-based restoration can improve an individual’s social, emotional and psychological well-being. Qualitative interviews identified various social benefits from community-based restoration activities, including social bonding, commitment to environmental stewardship, greater ecological empathy, and improved nature connection among youth. I will discuss the challenges to sustaining community-based coastal restorations, and opportunities for scientists and government to support these activities so that they can contribute to achieving large-scale marine conservation targets.