Relationship, Discourse and Construction: The Power Process and Environmental Impact of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces as a World Heritage Site

Honglian Hua, Yikun Wang, Zhiqiang Ding, Hua Liu, Shangyi Zhou () and Yuli Liu ()
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Honglian Hua: Faculty of Geography, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
Yikun Wang: Faculty of Geography, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
Zhiqiang Ding: School of Geographical Sciences, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou 350007, China
Hua Liu: Faculty of Geography, Yunnan Normal University, Kunming 650500, China
Shangyi Zhou: Faculty of Geography, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Yuli Liu: Institute of Belt and Road, School of Business, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266061, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-20

Abstract: The coexistence of conservation and degradation is a challenge for protected areas, and unequal political and social power is the mechanism underlying this conservation paradox. The World Heritage site of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces (HHRT) has important natural and cultural value, but despite the enormous investment in protecting the site, the rice terraces continue to degrade, and much of the degradation has been unexpected. This study attempts to reveal the mechanism of these unintended protection outputs from the perspective of power relations. After reviewing the literature on the political ecology of protected areas, this study further considers the conceptual framework of power in view of the ambiguity of the concept and integrates the themes from research on protected areas into the power analysis framework of political ecology. Three aspects of the power process and environmental impact of heritage sites are analyzed: the actor network, conservation discourse and natural reconstruction. The results reveal that power among actors in the HHRT has changed over the course of continuous interaction, power has been produced and re-established in different relational networks, and the exercise of power has changed and reshaped the natural environment of the heritage site through a series of spatial planning decisions. Conservation discourse related to heritage is an important way for actors to establish and exercise power. However, due to spatial differences in the allocation of power, local development opportunities are unbalanced. In this unbalanced relationship, in order to maintain or strive for development opportunities and achieve economic development, residents of the HHRT have reshaped the natural environment by changing their farming methods and traditional planting methods, posing a potential threat to the sustainable development of the heritage site.

Keywords: power; political ecology; environmental impact; World Heritage site; Honghe Hani Rice Terraces (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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