Guinea has few ecological data on one of its most important heritages, sacred forests. This study aims to fill this void and to demonstrate the conservative role of these forests in terms of biodiversity, in a very strong local context of anthropization. This work focused on four representative cases of the Sudano-Guinean zone in Upper Guinea. Phytoecological inventories have shown the presence of 431 species, 312 genera and 87 families, including 242 species, 187 genera and 64 families found only in these sacred forests. The analyses carried out made it possible to differentiate 12 plant groups, including five only in the sacred forests and seven in the surrounding vegetation. The spatial distribution of all identified plant groups is based mainly on regional geomorphology, on soil texture and hydromorphy, on microclimates as well as on anthropogenic impact. This study reveals above all a spatial disparity, with Guinean-Congolese flora more represented in gallery forests (sacred), while the Sudano-Guinean savannas are mainly dominated by microphanerophytes (Sudanese flora and pantropical species).

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