For several years, the Republic of Benin has made the option of conserving the elephant by including it in Appendix 1 of species that are fully protected by wildlife law. The natural habitats of elephants in Benin consist of protected areas and classified forests with a total area of approximately 2,500,000 ha.

In 2004, the elephant population inside the Pendjari Biosphere Reserve alone was estimated at 2047. Benin's desire to better protect the elephant dates back to 1991 when the first elephant conservation plan was developed. Taking into account the biology of the species and thanks to the framework document for elephant conservation developed in 1999 and updated in 2003 by IUCN aiming at an ecosystem and sub-regional approach, and following the other neighboring countries, this strategy was developed in a participatory approach and involved all national and regional actors involved in the management of wildlife and protected areas.

The results of this national workshop made it possible to finalize this document, which presents general information on Benin, the legal and institutional framework, the assets in the field of elephant conservation, the axes of the strategy, a logical framework and a dashboard for monitoring the indicators for the next ten years (2006-2016) in the field of elephant conservation.