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With about 107 million hectares of moist forest, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a perfect paradox of a natural resources endowed country caught in repeated economic and socio-political crises. Democratic Republic of Congo possesses about 60% of the Congo basin&rsquo, s forest on which the majority of its people rely for their survival. Even if the national forest land in the countryside is mainly exploited by local populations based on customary rights, they usually do not have land titles due to the fact that the state claims an exclusive ownership of all forest lands in the Congo basin including in DRC. The tragedy of &ldquo, bad governance&rdquo, of natural resources is often highlighted in the literature as one of the major drivers of poverty and conflicts in DRC. In the forest domain, several studies have demonstrated that state bureaucracies cannot convincingly improve the governance of forestland because of cronyism, institutional weaknesses, corruption and other vested interests that govern forest and land tenure systems in the country. There are however very few rigorous studies on the role of traditional leaders or chiefdoms in the governance of forests and land issues in the Congo basin. This research aimed at addressing this lack of knowledge by providing empirical evidence through the case study of Yawalo village, located around the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo. From a methodological perspective, it used a mixed approach combining both qualitative (field observations, participatory mapping, interviews, focal group discussions, and desk research,) and quantitative (remote sensing and statistics) methods. The main findings of our research reveal that: (i) vested interests of traditional rulers in the DRC countryside are not always compatible with a sustainable management of forestland, and (ii) influential users of forestland resources at the local level take advantage of traditional leaders&rsquo, weaknesses&mdash, lack of autonomy and coercive means, erratic recognition of customary rights, and poor legitimacy&mdash, to impose illegal hunting and uncontrolled forest exploitation.

La Tshopo est une des premières provinces de la République Démocratique du Congo (RDC) à être sélectionnée, en 2011, pour la mise en oeuvre des projets de Réduction des Émissions de gaz à effet de serre issues de la Déforestation et de la Dégradation des forêts (REDD+). Depuis lors, cette province offre l’opportunité d’analyser la mise en oeuvre des initiatives de réduction de la déforestation pour comprendre comment la REDD+, élaborée au niveau international et mise à l’agenda au niveau national à Kinshasa pour le compte de la RDC, est déployée concrètement sur le terrain à travers des projets de réduction de la déforestation. Cet article décrypte le processus de diffusion et de sélection des sites de mise en oeuvre des projets en RDC en général et dans la province de la Tshopo en particulier. Il décrit et analyse également la mise en oeuvre des activités estampillées REDD+ et les dynamiques territoriales qui en découlent. En mobilisant les concepts de diffusion et implémentation des politiques (policy diffusion and implementation), de dynamiques territoriales, ainsi que l’analyse de documents officiels, les enquêtes par entretien et les observations directes sur le terrain, nous montrons que la diffusion de la REDD+, de l’arène nationale à l’arène locale dans la Tshopo, a été l’initiative de la Coordination nationale REDD+ (CN-REDD), appuyée financièrement par les partenaires extérieurs. La sélection des sites considérés comme « points chauds » de la déforestation a été une étape cruciale du processus de diffusion. En plus des projets pilotes REDD+, les sites sélectionnés ont accueilli les projets intégrés REDD+ (PIREDD). Les résultats de nos investigations montrent que dans la Tshopo, les activités réalisées dans le cadre des PIREDD+ sont en rapport avec l’aménagement du territoire, la gouvernance, l’agriculture, l’afforestation et la restauration des paysages. Ces activités font émerger des dynamiques territoriales caractérisées par des changements d’occupation du sol et des velléités d’appropriation ou de réappropriation foncière. Les dynamiques émergentes sont néanmoins soumises à de fortes contraintes : lenteur et retard dans la réalisation des projets, courte durée des projets, absence d’innovations liée au fait que les projets s’apparentent aux initiatives classiques de développement qui n’ont pas, par le passé, fait la preuve de leur efficacité. Les contraintes identifiées révèlent des dysfonctionnements qui ont pour effet de réduire l’enthousiasme des acteurs locaux, avec le risque de compromettre le succès de la lutte contre la déforestation à travers les projets REDD+., Tshopo is one of the first provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to be selected, in 2011, for the implementation of Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) projects. Since then, this province offers the opportunity to analyze the implementation of deforestation reduction initiatives in order to understand how REDD+, developed at the international level and put on governmental agenda of the DRC, is concretely deployed on the ground through deforestation reduction projects. This paper deciphers the process of dissemination and selection of project implementation sites in the DRC in general and in Tshopo province in particular. It also describes and analyses the implementation of REDD+ activities and the resulting territorial dynamics. By mobilizing the concepts of policy diffusion and implementation, territorial dynamics, as well as the analysis of official documents, surveys by interview and direct observation in the field, we show that the diffusion of REDD+, from the national arena to the local arena in the Tshopo, was the initiative of the National REDD+ coordination (CN-REDD), financially supported by external partners. The selection of sites considered as deforestation "hot spots" constituted a crucial step of the diffusion process. In addition to the first REDD+ pilot projects, these sites receive integrated projects known as PIREDD. Our investigations and observations in the field show that in the Tshopo, activities carried out by these PIREDD+ are related to land use planning, governance, agriculture, afforestation and landscape restoration. These activities give rise to territorial dynamics characterized by changes in land use and attempts for land appropriation or reappropriation. Emerging dynamics are nevertheless subject to strong constraints: slowness and delay in the implementation of projects, short duration of projects, lack of innovation linked to the fact that projects are similar to traditional development initiatives that have not, in the past, proven their effectiveness. Constraints identified lead to dysfunctions that have the effect of reducing the enthusiasm of local actors, with the risk of compromising the success of the struggle against deforestation through REDD+ projects.