Cultural Brokerage in Driving Mangrove Conservation for Climate Mitigation, Indonesia

Objective: To identify the agency of cultural brokers work to build mutual awareness, facilitate cross-cultural communication, and create a new culture for cilmate mtigstion.   Theoretical Framework: The main teory is  Ortner (2001) as an effort to understand the agency of cultural brokers to mobilize groups for self-managed conservation by local communities, how to understanding the influence of individuals within social and cultural contexts to build new values through mangrove conservation.   Method: This research is qualitative, employing a phenomenological approach, with data collected over the years 2021 and 2023 through immersion in the community, conducting observations, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions. Data were analyzed descriptively based on thematic analysis.   Results and Discussion: The cultural brokers play a vital role in independently driving mangrove conservation by building agency, facilitating communication, education, and mentoring, leading to the establishment of mangrove ecotourism.The communication conducted by cultural brokers involves not only two parties but multiple stakeholders, as this study shows cultural brokers connecting the interests of local communities with those of companies and international climate regimes.   Research Implications: The practical and theoretical implications of this research are the development of the cultural broker concept, which not only brings together two major cultures, the concept of cultural brokers also plays a role in building the agency construction of the society that will be developed with new values in a new culture.   Originality/Value: This research contributes academically to the development of the concept of cultural brokers and practically serves as a reference for conservation planning.