Political, Legislative and Institutional Frameworks for the Governance of Water Resources’ Ecosystem Services in Benin

Ecosystem services play an important role for the balance of biodiversity and for social well-being. The management of ecosystem services around water resources is governed by several political documents and laws, and involves several actors. Current reforms calling for co-management raise questions about the sustainability of ecosystem service management models around water resources. This article discusses the contours of the legal framework and the institutional mechanism for water resources and their ecosystem services management in Benin. Therefore, the majority of the policy documents set up in the framework of natural resources management were consulted during data collection. Content analysis method was used to analyse these documents.Results show that the governance of water resources and their ecosystem services in Benin is guided by several national political texts inspired by international institutions set up. In Benin, water resources management is based on the declination at national level of the various international and regional agreements ratified by the country. Water resources governance is placed under the responsibility of several political, administrative and civil society actors, in a well-defined role-play system.It is based on vision and strategy documents, action programs, budget programs and the National Water Policies, including the Law 044-2010 of November 24, 2010 on water management. However, the processes for implementing these texts do not guarantee the sustainable management of the resources. Indeed, the implementation texts of most of the laws are often not developed, and where they are, they are not widely popularised. There is also a mismatch between adopted legal rules and ancestral cultures and customs. Finally, we noted in the laws and policies,the existence of contradictions, ambiguities and overlapping of responsibilities of the actors in the governance of these resources.