The realization of forestry carbon sink value serves as a critical focal point for implementing the national "Dual Carbon" strategy and for establishing a robust value transformation system for ecological products. It is also widely recognized as a fundamental pathway for materializing the "Two Mountains" concept, which emphasizes the harmony between economic development and environmental protection. In this context, how to leverage digital finance to effectively overcome the challenges in translating the ecological value of forestry carbon sinks into tangible economic and livelihood benefits has emerged as a significant proposition for advancing green and sustainable development. Using panel data from 30 provincial administrative regions in China from 2013 to 2022, this study constructs an evaluation index system for forestry carbon sink value across three dimensions: ecology, economy, and social welfare. Fixed-effect models, mediation models, and spatial Durbin models are employed to examine the influence pathways and spatial spillover effects of digital finance. The research findings are as follows: (1) At the provincial level, a synchronous and co-evolving improvement is observed between the development of digital finance and the level of forestry carbon sink value realization. The empirical results demonstrate that a 1% increase in digital finance leads to a 0.789% growth in the realization of forestry carbon sink value. Importantly, this positive correlation remains statistically robust and significant even after rigorously addressing potential endogeneity concerns and conducting a series of comprehensive robustness tests. (2) The analysis further identifies a dual-channel mediation mechanism. Specifically, digital finance facilitates the realization of forestry carbon sink value by simultaneously promoting forestry technological innovation and elevating the overall level of social consumption. (3) Heterogeneity analysis reveals that the promoting effect of digital finance is not uniform across regions. It is particularly more pronounced and substantial in economically developed provinces. Furthermore, in the context of the existing digital divide, the positive impact of digital finance is significantly stronger and more evident in areas endowed with higher capacities for digital technology access and more efficient usage capabilities. (4) Finally, the study confirms a significant spatial spillover effect associated with digital finance's influence on forestry carbon sink value realization. This effect is distinctly positive, indicating that the development of digital finance in one region can generate beneficial cross-regional externalities and foster the value realization process in neighboring geographical units. Policy implications include strengthening digital finance infrastructure, promoting technological innovation and green consumption capacity, narrowing the urban-rural digital divide, and leveraging spatial spillovers to jointly advance forestry carbon sink value realization across regions.