This document is a synthesis of Les aires marines protégées d'Afrique de l'Ouest. Gouvernance et politiques publiques (Weigel et. al, 2007) which proposes an analytical framework to study the governance of MPAs in the LDCs. This analytical framework makes it possible to characterise the governance system of each of the MPAs considered and to develop a typology of these systems. The characterisation of different governance systems highlights their weaknesses and paves the way for new public policy options and, more generally, for the restructuring of governance to correct these weaknesses.