Conflicts in mangrove protected areas through the actor-centred power framework - Insights from China

Mangroves as a critical ecosystem in tropical and subtropical intertidal zones are undergoing accelerated degradation. Efforts to establish protected areas have been credited as a plausible way to protect mangroves. However, the rapid expansion of protected areas has severely eroded communities' livelihoods and power balance with local authorities, creating tensions between mangrove conservation and local aquaculture development. Based on the actor-centered power framework, we analyzed local residents' reactions and resistance to the highly politicized policies in the K Mangrove National Nature Reserve in China. By revealing power dynamics hidden in multi-actor conflicts under an authoritarian regime, our research sheds new light on how conflicts arise and escalate through the strategic use of power resources and imbalanced power configuration during structural change and policy implementation. Power relations between groups of actors are reshaped from tacit complicity to opposition between the policy coalition and the interest expression coalition. The deprivation by local authorities of community-owned soft power resources significantly exacerbates the power asymmetry between coalitions and triggers the adoption of stronger power strategies by the community and the escalation of resistance intensity. Our research has important implications for better conflict management and coastal resource management under authoritarianism.