The Authenticity of Heritage in the Face of Development Imperatives: The Case of the Lakeside City of Ganvié, Benin

Ganvié is one of the major settlements in the lower Ouémé Valley, listed as a mixed site on the national tentative list. The lower Ouémé Valley encompasses a unique terrestrial and coastal/marine ecosystem within the Dahomey Gap, featuring species of interest and a cluster of villages built on stilts over the water, inhabited by the Tofin and Weme communities (Cledjo 2010). According to local reports, Ganvié was founded in the early eighteenth century due to widespread insecurity during the transatlantic slave period. The first inhabitants are said to have come from the west and settled in the middle of the water to escape slave raids, particularly those carried out by troops from the Kingdom of Danhome (2025). Ganvié is thus a refuge where an exceptional culture has developed, adapted to the aquatic and sometimes semi-aquatic environment. Since 2016, the Government of Benin, through its Action Programme (PAG), has planned to invest 80 billion XOF (126 million USD) in the implementation of a development project entitled “Reinventing the Historic City of Ganvié” ( https://www.gouv.bj ). The work includes electrification and water and sanitation projects, improvements and modernisation of infrastructure and access roads, rehabilitation of community facilities, and the construction of modern buildings designed to have a longer lifespan than the traditional huts. The chapter on the conditions for the authenticity of Ganvié, whose inhabitants face the basic imperatives of improving their living conditions in a challenging environment, is an atypical case, given that the site enjoys dual recognition from UNESCO and as a Ramsar site.