This PhD-project studies the exploitation and management of woodlands during wartime and the impact of conflicts on the structure and diversity of forests, which played a major role in military strategies. It relies on the taxonomic identification of charcoal from archaeological excavations of military camps discovered in Belgium (Ninove-Doorn Noord: 1692-1693, 1745; Lanaken-Europark: 1748; Hooglede, Honzebrouckstraat: 1794), the Netherlands (Utrecht-Austerlitz: 1804-1806), and France (Etaples: 1803-1805). Additionally, this project provides an assessment of forest biodiversity over two centuries in northern continental Europe. A study window will also be opened in a Mediterranean island environment on the prison island of Cabrera, in the Spanish Balearic archipelago, whose terrestrial and maritime heritage has been protected for 30 years.