Territorial space ecological restoration plays a critical role in improving environmental quality, enhancing ecosystem functions, and safeguarding ecological security. Effectiveness assessment serves as a core tool for verifying restoration outcomes. Existing studies exhibit limitations in quantitatively assessing the contribution of ecological restoration to regional ecological health. Focusing on Zhejiang Province, this research employed the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) model, a two-way fixed effects model, and heterogeneity analysis to evaluate spatiotemporal changes in territorial ecological health and elucidate the mechanisms through which restoration impacts ecological health. The findings revealed that: (1) From 2016 to 2020, Zhejiang Province witnessed significant improvements in territorial ecological health, with the average ecological health index rising from 0.41 to 0.49. (2) Ecological restoration exerted a statistically significant positive effect on ecological health, where a 1% increase in the proportion of restoration area corresponded to about a 0.6-unit enhancement in the ecological health index under controlled variables. (3) The ecological health benefits of restoration were more pronounced in developed areas with flat terrain and relatively small cultivated land areas. (4) Optimization of land use structure, restructuring of landscape patterns, and adjustment of development modes constituted the primary pathways through which restoration influenced ecological health. The findings provide empirical support for refining effectiveness evaluation frameworks and governance mechanisms in territorial space ecological restoration.