The Coniferocene: A new framework for exploring the development, shaping, and utilization of Europe's forests since the Eighteenth Century

This article introduces the concept of the ‘Coniferocene’ as a heuristic for examining the long-term co-evolution of European forests, forestry, and industrial wood utilization. It highlights a series of developments that emerged unevenly from the eighteenth century onward, became more clearly defined during the nineteenth century, and continue to shape forest environments today, though under increasingly unstable conditions. These developments include the expansion of conifer-dominated stands, the consolidation of scientific forestry, the growing involvement of state institutions, the deeper integration of wood into regional and international markets, and transnational transfers of capital and labor. These dynamics underscore the value of approaching European forest history at a continental scale while remaining attentive to regional variation and temporal asynchrony. The article does not seek to replace broader interpretative frameworks such as the Anthropocene, Capitalocene, or Plantationocene, but rather to complement them by foregrounding a resource-specific and regionally grounded perspective. By adopting an interdisciplinary and transnational approach, it contributes to ongoing efforts to move beyond nationally bounded narratives in environmental history, offers new perspectives on Europe's modern economic, political and social histories, and provides a framework for reflecting on the contemporary transformations affecting European forest landscapes under conditions of climate change.