"Does tree planting make an area greener? " In general, yes. "Planting trees just to cut them down for lumber doesn't seem very green in that typical sense."

"Does tree planting make an area greener? " In general, yes. "Planting trees just to cut them down for lumber doesn't seem very green in that typical sense." If it is done in a sustainable way, then also yes. Also chinas main motivation is actually to stop the desertification, so they want most the trees to stay. "Agricultural plots decimate the local ecosystem" Also depends. If you bring in irrigation, then you can have green, where there would be none before (but you can have all sorts of other trouble, if your water consumption is not sustainable). So all in all, a true wilderness with old forest is surely way more beautiful and a way more valuable ecosystem, but even a forest plantation is way greener than a arid wasteland.