Introduction
The DRC is the largest country in Africa in terms of the size of its forests, the second largest tropical forest in the world and the most important in terms of preserving the global environment.

At the heart of this majestic forest lies a mystery that surrounds what are known as sacred forests, the property of the local people who live there. Today, they appear to be an ancestral right par excellence that has been recognised by national laws and an ancestral heritage at the service of biodiversity conservation.
The notion of sacred forests is rooted in a solid ancestral tradition
The sacred forest is an ecosystem dominated by trees or a vegetation formation based on trees or shrubs and teeming with various animal species. Sacred forests are places of ancestral rites, traditional knowledge and sacrificial practices. For some communities, they are the habitat of the spirits of the ancestors who protect the village and the place where these spirits are invoked to prevent war or serious illness.
Sacred forests are protected by customary laws that form a set of prohibitions and cultic rites, the non-respect of which leads to sanctions for those who transgress them. For example, the right of access to these forests is subject to authorisation by the customary chiefs, and transgression of this rule can lead to the death of the transgressor as well as illness.

According to the spiritual and mystical beliefs of the people who own these forests, they are home to the gods and spirits of the village’s founding ancestors. These deities protect the village from its enemies and various calamities. Certain species of wild animals inhabiting these forests are protected, due to powerful traditional beliefs and cultural associations with certain animals and wild plants.
An ancestral heritage in the service of nature
So-called sacred forests represent cultural and spiritual values for the communities that own them. Today, they are seen as socio-cultural tools for protecting the environment and conserving biodiversity.
The traditional and cultural practices that surround these forests contribute to the effective conservation of plant and animal species insofar as activities related to the exploitation of these forests, such as farming and logging, are prohibited. Moreover, the promotion of culture in this way makes it a sought-after traditional method for protecting the environment or conserving biodiversity.
Conclusion
The existence of sacred forests, which for a long time remained a customary reality, has been recognised by the country’s forestry law, in force since 2002, as a right for each community to dispose of forest areas by virtue of custom. This recognition of so-called sacred forests by forest law makes them a social reality and one of the ancestral rights rarely recognised by national laws. The efforts of various national and international players are aimed at promoting the exercise of local people’s rights over the forest areas they hold sacred, thus making culture an effective tool for conserving biodiversity.