Afforest means to establish a forest or to convert an area into a forest through planting trees. Its antonym is deforestation, which refers to the process of cutting down or clearing trees in a forest or an area occupied by trees. Other antonyms for afforest include urbanize, which means to develop an area into a city or town, and industrialize, which refers to the conversion of land into industrial use. Other antonyms for afforest include desolate, which means to strip an area of vegetation or to make it barren, and exploit, which means to use an area for profit without concern for the environmental consequences.