Table 1_Non-state actors in transboundary coastal environmental cooperation: a case study from Southern China's Greater Bay Area.docx

Cross-jurisdictional cooperation on the management of coastal wetlands in China's Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) had long been limited to information exchange. This study finds that NGOs, tasked with crucial policy-entrepreneurial responsibilities, aroused new dynamics to coastal wetland conservation in the GBA's Deep Bay (also known as Shenzhen Bay). This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the implications of non-state policy entrepreneurs' positions as well as their collective policy entrepreneurial strategies in promoting cross-jurisdictional environmental cooperation. Selected studies in the literature reveal cautious and skilful ways in which Chinese NGOs conduct policy advocacy. This paper deviates from these as NGOs' attempts to influence management practices and policy are studied in the delicate transboundary context, where added complexities are expected. NGOs' success documented in this case study is highly unusual because, conventionally, culturally and/or politically in this region, cross-jurisdictional environmental management is heavily dominated by governmental actors. This paper analyses the reasons accounting for their success in triggering collaborative coastal wetland conservation. The availability of resources to the NGOs, in terms of funding from its private donations and knowledge from experts and scientists, as well as their autonomy, were important factors. This paper goes on to explain the implications of a more recognized role of non-state actors, including ECR, who have become more active in research related to wetland conservation in the GBA.