Environmental processes occur across large ecological regions that repair or damage ecosystems. Therefore, a wide range of restoration actions to reverse the ecosystem and livelihood damage is obvious, and the institutional perspective is one of the strategies. Research works from an institutional perspective, as a process, are wide; however, outcomes and patterns of interaction are lacking. Therefore, this study aims to explore the external contexts of ecological restoration and identify the key institutional attributes of restoration success. I analyzed three cases of institutional resource governance and corresponding restorations outcomes in three different environmental contexts and thematic areas: water resource governance in the Upper-Mustang, Ecosystem restoration (Watershed Management) in the Begnas-Rupa Lake; and Community Forest in the Chure-Bhabar Region (Bara) of Nepal. I used both secondary and primary data. Primary data were collected by interacting with the members of user groups and other primary stakeholders different times, spanning between 2013 to 2023. The collected data were analyzed under 10 themes and 22 sub-themes, constructed under the chosen conceptual frameworks: Context --> Actions --> Interactions --> and Outcomes (Ostrom 2005); and the 10 design principles of institutional analysis (Ostrom 1993; Khatri & Pandey 2023). The findings revealed that the success of the ecological restoration is determined by the contexts, action arena, and the pattern of interactions under given design principles. Better access and limited control, shared power, participatory decision, equitable sharing of cost and benefits, incentives for restoration, lack of or timely addressing of conflicts, external technical support, unrestricted flow of information, and justice in graduate sanction and forgiveness, collectively lead to better restoration outcomes, while opposite situations cause failure or delay in ecological restoration.