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Community-based ecotourism management for sustainable development of marine protected areas in Malaysia
Ocean & Coastal Management 136 (2017) 104e112
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Ocean & Coastal Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ocecoaman
Community-based ecotourism management for sustainable development of marine protected areas in Malaysia Muhammad Mehedi Masud a, *, Abdullah Mohammed Aldakhil b, Abdelmohsen A. Nassani b, Mohammad Nurul Azam c, d a
Department of Development Studies, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia King Saud University, Department of Management, College of Business Administration, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia d Daffodil International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh b c
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Received 15 June 2016 Received in revised form 22 October 2016 Accepted 16 November 2016
This study explores the factors that influence the community's participation in managing communitybased ecotourism (CBETM) for sustainable development of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Peninsular Malaysia. CBETM ensures community involvement for effective sustainable management as well as supporting environmental conservation practices. To achieve the objectives of the study, a quantitative method was applied, and data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The major findings of this study indicate that environmental knowledge for sustainable development, motivation to be involved with CBETM, perceived economic impact of CBETM, perceived social impact of CBETM and perceived cultural impact of CBETM have a greater influence on intention to participate in CBETM. It implies that these factors lead to the formation of positive intention in managing CBETM and promote community participation. This study will help policymakers to take relevant management policies to increase environmental knowledge for sustainable development, to motivate local community in CBETM, and to increase economic, social and cultural benefits among residents. These benefits encourage community involvement in CBETM that will support environmental planning to ensure environmental conservation practices among tourists and residents. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Community Ecotourism Environment Management Sustainable development
1. Introduction Malaysia is considered one of the most prosperous countries in Southeast Asia partly because of its rich marine resources. This enables Malaysia to maintain its position as an exceptional tourist destination and has supported economic growth, which directly increases the standard of living of the local community. Specifically, MPAs are considered exceptional tourist destinations in Malaysia (Tahir, 2008). The tourism industry of Malaysia contributes significantly to the economy and has proven itself a sector that stimulates economic growth (Vasanth, 2005; Jaafar and Maideen, 2012). MPAs in Malaysia are managed by a top-down approach because of its strong centralist political interference on coastal and fisheries
* Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M.M. Masud), aaldakhil@ hotmail.com (A.M. Aldakhil), [email protected] (A.A. Nassani), mazamd@ gmail.com (M.N. Azam). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.11.023 0964-5691/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
management (Siry, 2006). It indicates that Federal Government controls MPAs, not State governments. This has resulted in the lack of coordination between the Federal and the State governments where each planning agency is in conflict with others (Siry, 2006). Another important issue is that the Federal Government established the MPAs without prior discussion with the local community. This has hampered local community-based management practices within MPAs in Malaysia (Siry, 2006) leading to a negative perception of community-based ecotourism (Er et al., 2012). The local community's understanding of economic, social and €rn environmental issues is the basis of shaping related policies. To et al. (2008) found that poor involvement of local communities in the establishment and management of protected areas resulted in unfavourable behaviour towards sustainable use of natural resources. Social capital plays a vital role to improve cooperation and coordination of the local community for the development of community-based ecotourism (Liu et al., 2014). Participation of the local community helps build confidence for long term sustainability
M.M. Masud et al. / Ocean & Coastal Management 136 (2017) 104e112
and ensure sustainable use and management of natural resources that reduce the adverse effects of anthropogenic exercises on the environment. This study attempts to analyse the perception of the local community towards CBETM and its economic impact on the development of the community within MPAs.
1.1. Overview of marine protected areas in Malaysia Marine protected areas were created in the early 1980s when it was realised that marine fisheries have declined. To improve fishery resources, it was considered important that the coral reef areas inhabited by different commercial fish species, breed, feed and grow, must be protected. The coral reef areas are an essential habitat as they are exposed to numerous stressors caused by human actions. Given the situation, in 1983, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, led the Ministry of Agriculture to establish marine parks under Parts 41 to 45 of the Fisheries Act 1985. The main objective of creating marine parks is to protect, conserve and manage in perpetuity representative marine ecosystems of importance, particularly coral reefs and their flora and fauna, so they remain in good condition for future generations. According to the Department of Fisheries Malaysia (2012), a total of 53 MPAs in Malaysia under the 1985 Act was designated as marine parks. The very short history of the establishment of marine parks in Malaysia is presented in Table 1. The Fishing Regulations (restricted area) was adopted under the Fisheries Act, 1963. In 1985, 22 islands in the states of Kedah, Terengganu, Pahang and Johor were declared as Fishing Prohibited Area (FPA) under the 1963 Fisheries Act. The Fisheries Act was adopted in 1985, replacing the 1963 law on fisheries, which led to declaring three islands off the coast of Sarawak as FPA. In 1994, 38 islands in the state of Kedah, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor and Labuan Federal Territory were declared officially as marine parks in Malaysia under the Fisheries Act, 1985. Management of the marine park island conceptual plan for Peninsular Malaysia was formed with a collective effort of the marine park, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia and Canada Fund. In 2004, the marine park section was moved from the Fisheries Department in a new direction under the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) with a new vision, mission, goals and strategic plan for the new management of marine parks. In 2006, June 14, the Minister Council meeting approved the formation of the Department of Marine Park Malaysia (DMPM). In 2007, July 16, the marine park section officially became the Department of Marine Parks Malaysia. In 2012 this DMPM forged closer collaboration with local communities by introducing alternative livelihood programmes, training of the Community Advisory Committee, closer collaboration with NGOs and local universities in research and monitoring.
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2. Literature review Community-based ecotourism focuses on environmental, social and cultural sustainability and plays a vital role in meeting the challenges of sustainability of world tourism (UNEP, 2011). In CBETM, local community members are considered protectors of natural resources and areas and expert in cultural, environmental and livelihood. Community-based ecotourism involves residents in conservation practices and often increases environmental awareness among residents (Higgins-Desbiolles, 2009). To make the appropriate decision in the environmental context, an individual must have a clear understanding of environmental issues. (Hayombe et al., 2012; Zhang and Lei, 2012). Wanga et al. (2013) found an association between residents' environmental knowledge and their attitudes towards ecotourism. Participation of local communities in ecotourism can be motivated by having suitable management strategies that target improving local understanding of the environmental issues, stimulating favourable attitudes towards ecotourism and developing environmental plans (Zhang and Lei, 2012). The lack of information about environmental problems has adverse impacts on local environmental behaviour. Environmental knowledge is an important variable that affects the level of environmental engagement (Barr and Gilg, 2007). Individuals who have excelled in learning the natural issues are more inclined to act in an ecological manner, ceteris paribus (Oguz et al., 2011). Different researchers have recommended that an absence of appropriate information or an overabundance of knowledge may prompt people to take steps that might harm the environment. If such people are more mindful of environmental issues and their reasons, they will be more interested in acting towards the earth in more rational ways. One of the greatest contentions towards getting the best type of natural activity is through knowledge. People with information, abilities and qualities will contribute to a stable and growing world (Adomssent, 2013; Lozano et al., 2013). Vicente-Molina et al. (2013) found that knowledge has a significant influence on pro-environmental behaviour and attitudes towards the environment. This paper examines the essential connection between the factors that affects the locals' intention to participate in community-based ecotourism with aimed the strengthening the ability of communities for sustainable use of natural resources within MPAs. In a nutshell, there is a correlation between environmental knowledge and environmental behaviour. Thus improving locals' environmental knowledge can encourage favourable attitudes towards ecotourism (Zhang and Lei, 2012). The sustainable use of the environment can be improved when locals have constructive insight into sustainable management (Bennett and Dearden, 2014). Motivation plays a significant role in terms of making human beings dedicated. Motivation is required for the effective
Table 1 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Malaysia. History of MPAs in Malaysia
Location of Marine Park
No of MPAs
1983: The Fisheries Regulations was enacted under the Fisheries Act, 1963 1985: 22 islands in the states of Kedah, Terengganu, Pahang and Johor were declared as FPA under the Fisheries Act of 1963. Fisheries Act 1985 was enacted, replacing the Fisheries Act 1963 1994:38 islands in the state of Kedah, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor and Federal Territory of Labuan were declared and gazetted as marine parks Malaysia under the Fisheries Act, 1985, 2004: Marine Park Section shifted from Fisheries Department to a new management under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) 2006: Department of marine parks Malaysia was established in MNRE 2012-present: Formulation of Policies and Management Plans for Marine Parks
Peninsular Malaysia Sarawak
42 3
Sabah
6 and 2 proposed
Total
53 Marine Parks
Source: Department of Marine Park, Malaysia (2012).
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participation at the community level. CBETM can motivate local communities in various ways such as bringing economic benefits, guaranteeing resources for future generations, participation in decision-making process and developing the cultural identity. The core policy of Protected Areas is the preservation of natural resources, so it is reasonably imperative to evaluate their social impacts on the local community to obtain the effective outcomes of conservation practices (De Lange et al., 2016). The CBET seeks to create an equilibrium between conservation and local community livelihoods, conserving biodiversity simultaneously dropping rural poverty and accomplishing both goals on a realistic basis. CBETM is operated by locals who are responsible for administrative decisions, and profits are exclusively theirs (Khanal and Babar, 2007). Community-based ecotourism encompasses three major laws of sustainable development i.e. economic efficiency, social value and environmental sustainability (Mbaiwa, 2004). Economic efficiency ensures people have access and enjoy high standards of living and that benefits are shared equally among all people involved in the activity. Social equity means all the participating user groups of CBET must have equal and just opportunities and access to resources as well as a fair share of revenues, right to participate in the decision-making process and administration related to tourism activity. All members of a community involved in CBET must benefit from the project. Ecological sustainability confirms natural resource preservation and respects the host community. CBETM ensures the community's’ empowerment and ownership, conservation of natural and cultural resources, socioeconomic development and quality visitor experience (Hiwasaki, 2006). These factors will motivate the local community to participate in CBETM. CBETM is a well thought out means for sustainable development. Sustainable tourism directs to the management of all resources in a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while upholding cultural integrity, essential ecological developments, natural diversity and life support scheme (Muhanna, 2006). Sole reasons for the development of community are to provide them with the essential wherewithal to improve their living conditions, to conserve their natural and cultural heritage and to offer monetary prospects (Bhatta, 2008). It also provides sustainable economic growth by promoting social development and environmental health of the community. Gaining success and sustain community-based tourism requires multi-institutional support. In view of the fact that communitybased ecosystem is a people-centric method functioning towards rational benefit share and elevating poverty, it is sure to inspire the government and the community to preserve their natural and cultural resources (Armstrong, 2012). If used with appropriate planning and administration, CBETM can be used as a device to promote conservation and can develop rural, remote and poor communities in a suitable manner simultaneously. Sustainable development of natural resources can contribute to economic growth, improve standards of living, create job opportunities and increase the welfare of communities living near these resources (Howarth, 2012). Nevertheless, local people can only achieve optimum benefits of the proposed sustainable development if they become a fundamental part of the process. For certain achievement of sustainable development, it is important that ecotourism must be a community-based initiative where the community owns and manages the business enterprises. Greater participation means more extensive economic profits are available to the communities. As that local community relies on the economic benefits, it should act as motivation for local participation in the preservation of natural and cultural resources (Coria and Calfucura, 2012). Ecotourism creates long-term benefits that are equitably distributed between receiving communities and may be used to improve
community infrastructure continually. CBET meets communal appeal for respectable tourism leading to economic, social and ethical added value. It appears to be the most thriving form of sustainable tourism (Goodwin and Santilli, 2009). Other focal points for CBET are human welfare as well as social, economic and cultural viability of the host communities in the long-run. Successful implementation of community-based ecotourism pointed towards the fact that major hurdles are a reduction of impacts, equal distribution of benefits of development and incorporated countrywide policies for rural area development (Foucat, 2002; Brandon, 1996). CBET as a reciprocally emphasising connection between conservation, livelihoods and cultural integrity (Hoole, 2010; Stone and Rogerson, 2011; Tran and Walter, 2014). Eshun and Tonto (2014) claims that ecotourism may help in the survival of culture and help local communities to distinguish and respect their unique culture and history. Finally, to generate the social acceptability of MPAs, the effective involvement of stakeholders is needed for effective management of natural resources (Gall and Rodwell, 2016). Having an understanding of the social acceptability will enrich the chances of being a successful MPA. Simultaneously, social, cultural and economic factors and favourable attitudes are needed for the successful management of MPAs (Mascia, 2003; Fiske, 1992; Himes, 2007). Six important elements have been identified by Rossiter and Levine (2014) as “degree of community involvement, socio-economic features, ecological factors, MPA designation, governance and implementation”. These factors contribute significantly to the success of MPAs. Furthermore, various strategies are applied for the successful management of MPAs, but the success of these strategies depend on their social acceptability among local communities (Jones et al., 2012). In this relationship, CBETM could play a key role in achieving these elements within MPAs. Therefore, based on the above review of the literature, we develop the following conceptual framework. 3. Conceptual framework To achieve the research objectives, a research model was developed grounded on the Theory of Reason Action (TRA) (Ajzen, 1985). The research model used behavioural intention and behaviour as two components of TRA. Behavioural intention is an individual's willingness to perform a given behaviour. Having a positive intention to do something is a prerequisite while behaviour is a visible response in a given situation with respect to a specified goal. This study, therefore, tests the intention of the local community to participate in CBETM within MPAs in Peninsular Malaysia. The research model also considers economic variables such as motivation to be involved with CBETM, environmental knowledge, perceived economic, perceived social and perceived cultural impact of CBETM on community intention and participation in managing CBET within MPAs in Peninsular Malaysia. The model was tested in a single diagram using structural equation modelling as shown in Fig. 1. Thus, to understand the community's perception related to the study, intention to participate in CBETM within MPAs was considered a dependent variable. The intent to participate CBETM, motivation to be involved with communitybased ecotourism; environmental knowledge for sustainable management; perceived economic impact of community-based ecotourism; perceived social impact of community-based ecotourism; and perceived cultural impact of community-based ecotourism are independent variables while intention to participate in community-based ecotourism for sustainable management is the dependent variable as shown in Eq. (1). In addition, participating in CBETM is considered the dependent variables while the intention to participate in CBETM is the independent variable as
M.M. Masud et al. / Ocean & Coastal Management 136 (2017) 104e112
sampling schemes to avoid multiple selections of the same respondent. To get a suitable sample size from this population, since the population (number of households) is known in our study, the following formula can be used.
ENVKSD MTVCBETM PEICBETM
IPCBETM
PCBETM
NW ¼ N/(1 þ Nd2)
PSICBETM PCICBETM
Fig. 1. Conceptual framework. ENVKSD ¼ Environmental knowledge for sustainable management; MTVCBET ¼ Motivation to be involved with community-based ecotourism; PEICBETM ¼ Perceived Economic Impact of community-based ecotourism; PSICBETM ¼ Perceived social impact of community-based ecotourism; PCICBET ¼ Perceived cultural impact of community-based ecotourism; IPCBETM ¼ Intention to participate in community-based ecotourism for sustainable management. PCBETM ¼ Participation in managing community-based ecotourism.
shown in Eq. (1). IPCBETM ¼ b0 þ b1 þ ui
107
MTVCBET
þ b2
ENVKSD
þ b3
PEICBET
PCICBET
PCBETM ¼ ¼ b0 þ b1
IPCBETM
þ b4
PSICBET
þ b5 (1)
þ ui
(2)
4. Research methods and materials 4.1. Population and socio-demographic profile of the respondents The study covers three marine protected areas in Malaysia namely Tioman Island Marine Park, The Redang Island Marine Park and The Tinggi Island as shown in Fig. 2. These three marine parks contain approximately 5617 residents with 1322 households (Population Census, 2010). Table 2 displays the demographic outline of the respondents. The results reveal that the respondents consist of 77% of males and 23% females. In terms of age distribution, the age of households ranged between 18 and over 60 years. As for the educational status of the households, 43% have primary education, while 27%, 16%, 4%, and 3% have higher secondary, lower secondary, diploma, and university education, respectively. In contrast, 7% of the households do not have formal education. The findings also show that the majority of households had a (37%) average monthly income between RM 751 up to RM 1500 while roughly 24% of the households earned between RM 441 up to RM 750. Of the households, 8% had incomes between RM0 up to RM 440 per month while 16%, 8%, and 4% of the households had an income between RM 2001 up to RM 3,000, RM 1501 up to RM 2000 and RM 3001 up to RM 4000 correspondingly. Only 3% of households had an income range of more than RM 5000 per month. The result also shows that households within MPAs are involved with various occupations to generate their income. 4.2. Sampling technique, size and data collection The study used the stratified simple random sampling technique. Using stratified proportionate sampling technique and looking at the caring capacity of the study area, we clustered Tioman Island Marine Park into eight strata based on geographic location. The Redang Island Marine Park and Tinggi Island Marine Park were considered one stratum. Then, using simple random sampling, respondents were selected based on their address and households lot numbers and followed without the replacement
(3)
where, NW ¼ new sample size, N ¼ number of households (total population) and d2 ¼ margin of error. The study area contains approximately 5617 residents with 1322 households. The formula gives us a sample size of 307.83. 350 questionnaires were circulated among households through face-to-face interviews. Of the 350 questionnaires, only 30 questionnaires were inadequate, resulting in 320 usable questionnaires. The response rate was nearly 91%. The questionnaire was the main instrument for collecting data. It was separated into sections A, and B. Section ‘A’ contained the communities' perception on CBETM and 5 being “strongly agree”. Section ‘B’ contained the socio-demographic profile of the respondents. 5. Results 5.1. Reliability analysis Reliability is carried out on all variables to determine if the measurement scale is indeed measuring what it is supposed to measure. Table 3 shows that all the variables achieved a value exceeding 0.70 (Hair et al., 2010). Hence, the overall survey instruments appear to have achieved the required level of internal consistency. It states that all factors offer sufficient exposure of the notions, all elements are clear and understandable, and that the questionnaire is a consistent measurement tool, proposing adequate internal consistency and reliability of the measurement scale. 5.2. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) The result of the CFA test indicates that all seven variables have adequate model fit indices. The CFA revealed that the normed chisquare (X2/df) value within a threshold value of 3; the CFI value is above the cut-off value of 0.90; and the RMSEA value is within the cut-off value of 0.080 as shown in Table 4. The CFA also shows that all the factor loadings range between 0.67 and 0.86. It indicates that all the items have significant item loading which is greater than 0.70 except two items as shown in Table 6. It confirms the existence of discriminant and convergent validity. 5.3. Validating the measurement model The convergent and discriminant validity were tested through the measurement model (Janssens et al., 2008; Kline, 2010). The result revealed that the average variance extracted (AVE) equals or exceeds the cut-off value of 0.50. The standardised factor loadings of all items were larger than 0.50, ranging from 0.67 to 0.86, and statistically significant at 0.001% level. This indication maintained the unidimensional of each scale and achieved the convergent validity. To assess the reliability of the internal consistency, Composite Reliability (CR) and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) were calculated. CR for all variables was greater than the threshold value of 0.70 as suggested by Hair et al. (2010) and Chinna (2009). The AVE values for all seven factors exceeded the minimum criteria of >0.50 as shown in Table 7. It implies that the proposed constructs have observed the convergent and discriminant validity as the correlation coefficient value between two constructs is within the suggested value of r ¼ 0.85 as shown in Table 5.
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Fig. 2. Map of study area. Source: http://www.asia-experience.com/Borneo-Malaysia.
Table 2 Socio-demographic profile of the respondents. Variables Gender Male Female Age 18-30 years 31-45 years 46-60 years Above 60 years Education No formal Education Primary education Lower secondary, Higher secondary Diploma University education Income RM0 up to RM 440 RM 441 up to RM 750 RM 751 up to RM 1500 RM 1501 up to RM 2000 RM 2001 up to RM 3,000, RM 3001 up to RM 5000 Above RM 5000 Occupation Housewife Fishermen Tourism related Job Business Government employee General workers Others Total
Percentage (%) 77 23 23 28 33 16 7 43 27 16 4 3 8 24 37 8 16 4 3 7 8 16 20 9 29 11 100
5.4. Validity of the structural model All variables were combined into a single model to test the relationship between independent and dependent variables. This
fully structured model is a representation of the research model. The full structured model shows satisfactory goodness-of-fit with relative chi-square value CMIN/df of 2.891, RMSEA of 0.078, RMR of 0.053 GFI of 0.901 NFI of 0.900 and CFI of 0.922. The fully structured model summary indicates the presence of absolute, incremental and parsimony fit, as shown in Table 6. Fig. 3 shows the graphical presentation of the proposed research model with correlation coefficient among independent variables and regression coefficient of independent and dependent variables. The figure indicates the relationship among all the variables with R2 value. The findings revealed that there is a statistically significant relationship between environmental knowledge for sustainable development and intention to participate CBETM at <0.001% significance level. Similarly, the result shows the statically significant relationship between motivation to be involved with CBETM and intention to participate in CBETM at <0.001% significant level. The results also found that perceived economic benefits and cultural impacts have a significant influence on intention to participate CBETM at <0.001% significant level. Eventually, we found the expected relationship based on TRA between intention to participate in CBETM and participation in managing EBETM at <0.001% significance level as presented in Table 7.
6. Discussions The findings revealed that intention to participate in CBETM is influenced by environmental knowledge for sustainable development. This finding is consistent with the studies of Zhang and Lei (2012), Aipanjiguly et al. (2003), Hsu and Roth (1996), and Lai and Nepal (2006). It reflects that knowledge of the local environmental resources undeniably facilitates locals' participation in community-based ecotourism management. There is a nexus between environmental knowledge and ecotourism practices. This is because, ecotourism focuses on environmental sustainability within tourism industry (UNEP, 2011), and it plays an important
M.M. Masud et al. / Ocean & Coastal Management 136 (2017) 104e112
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Table 3 Reliability analysis. Constructs
Cronbach's Alpha (a)
Mean
Std. deviation
Environmental knowledge for sustainable development Motivation to be involved with CBETM Perceived economic impact of CBETM Perceived social impact of CBETM Perceived cultural impact of CBETM Intention to participate in CBETM Participation in CBETM
0.88 0.82 0.84 0.86 0.80 0.86 0.84
3.9919 4.0300 4.0980 3.6060 3.4822 3.5004 3.7607
0.460 0.425 0.449 0.765 0.687 0.660 0.475
Table 4 Construct validity of confirmatory factory analysis. Fit indices for CFA Measurement Model: Normed X2 ¼ 2.876, CFI ¼ 0. 912, RMSEA ¼ 0.072, RMR ¼ 0.063 ENVKSD: Environmental sustainability is required for protecting and conserving natural resources Human actions are contributing to changes in our atmosphere and climate systems Climate change is happening that has greater impact on sustainable development PEICBETM: CBET will confirm to sustainable economic development CBET will create multiple economic opportunities CBET can attract more investment to local community Overall standard of living might improve considerably because of CBETM PSICBETM: CBET can bring collective benefits such as infrastructure development which are used by the community as a whole, roads, schools, clinics, etc. CBET can improve cooperation between community residents CBET might decrease the crime rate within MPAs PCICBETM: CBET will encourage a variety of cultural activities by the local residents CBET can have more cultural exchange between tourists and residents CBET can hold our precious traditional culture CBET will respect for cultural diversity is necessary for SD MTVCBETM: I am motivated to involve with CBETM to protect and conserve natural resources within MPAs CBETM is essentials for sustainable development of MPAs CBETM might play a significant role in developing well-being of MPC IPCBET: I want to participate in community-based ecotourism I feel CBET is necessary for sustainable development I want to be a committee member of CBET I am interested in involving in implementation of CBET with help of the Department of Marine Parks PCBETM: I am giving all the support for community-based ecotourism management I am already engaged with CBETM It is my concern to inspire my fellow citizen/peers to participate in CBETM a
Loadings
SMCa
0.86 0.80 0.81
0.74 0.64 0.66
0.78 0.85 0.70 0.69
0.61 0.72 0.49 0.48
0.79 0.76 0.86
0.62 0.58 0.74
0.76 0.83 0.87 0.85
0.58 0.69 0.76 0.72
0.80 0.79 0.70
0.64 0.62 0.49
0.78 0.77 0.80 0.82
0.60 0.60 0.64 0.67
0.81 0.79 0.67
0.65 0.62 0.45
Squared Multiple Correlation.
Table 6 Model fit summary.
Table 5 Convergent and discriminant validity.
F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7
CR
AVE
F1
F2
0.867 0.751 0.861 0.763 0.827 0.845 0.834
0.610 0.604 0.608 0.525 0.540 0.580 0.560
0.781 0.362 0.707 0.208 0.772 0.703 0.451
0.777 0.511 0.214 0.442 0.669 0.234
F3
0.779 0.184 0.685 0.778 0.663
F4
0.724 0.111 0.187 0.458
F5
0.734 0.551 0.341
F6
0.762 0.231
F7
0.748
Note: Legends: F1 ¼ Environmental Knowledge for sustainable development, F2 ¼ Perceived Economic Impact of community-based ecotourism, and F3 ¼ Perceived social impact of community-based ecotourism; F4 ¼ Perceived cultural impact of community-based ecotourism, F5 ¼ Motivation to be involved with community-based ecotourism, F6 ¼ Intention to participate in communitybased ecotourism and F7 ¼ Participation in community-based ecotourism management. Diagonal elements are in bold are the square root of the average variance extracted (AVE). Off-diagonal elements are the correlations among the constructs. For discriminate validity, diagonal elements should be larger than off-diagonal elements (Chiu and Wang, 2008).
Model fit indices Absolute fit index RMSEA RMR GFI Incremental fit index: CFI NFI Parsimony fit index X2/df
Threshold value
Observed value
0.08 0.10 0.90
0.078 0.053 0.901
0.90 0.90
0.922 0.900
5.0
2.981
role in addressing the sustainability challenges of global tourism. The study also found the significant relationship between motivation to be involved with CBETM and intent to participate in community-based ecotourism. It means that the local community is highly motivated to participate with CBETM. They believe that CBETM is essential for protecting and conserving natural resources and the sustainable development of the local community. These
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Table 7 Hypothesis path coefficients. Hypothesised paths ENVKSD / IPCBETM MTVCBETM / IPCBETM PEICBETM / IPCBETM PSICBETM / IPCBETM PCICBETM / IPCBETM IPCBETM / PCBETM
H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6
Coefficient (b)
C.R
Assessment
0.54*** 0.40*** 0.37*** 0.56*** 0.38*** 0.25***
5.918 2.563 2.443 3.874 2.333 2.034
Supported Supported Supported Supported Supported Supported
R2 suggests motivation to be involved with CBETM, environmental knowledge for sustainable development, perceived economic impact, perceived social impact, and perceived cultural impact on intention to participate in CBETM explains 78% of the variance in intention to participate in CBETM. Intention to participate in CBETM explains 63% of the variance in participation in CBETM.
ENVKSD .36 .71
.54
MTVCBETM
.40
.44
.70 .20 .11
.56
.54
PSICBETM
.21
.37
PEICBETM
.68
e1
e2
.78
IPCBETM
.63
.25
PCBETM
.38
.18
PCICBETM Fig. 3. Hypothesis model with path coefficients. ENVKSD ¼ Environmental knowledge for sustainable management; MTVCBET ¼ Motivation to be involved with community-based ecotourism; PEICBETM ¼ Perceived economic impact of community-based ecotourism; PSICBETM ¼ Perceived social impact of community-based ecotourism; PCICBET ¼ Perceived cultural impact of community-based ecotourism; IPCBETM ¼ Intention to participate in community-based ecotourism for sustainable management. PCBETM ¼ Participation in managing community-based ecotourism.
motivational factors inspire them to participate in CBETM. CBETM ensures the community's empowerment and ownership, conservation of natural and cultural resources, socioeconomic development and quality visitor experience (Hiwasaki, 2006). Moreover, the results exposed that economic benefits inspired the local community to take part in ecotourism practices. CBETM offers many economic and social benefits to the local community. Social capital plays a vital role to improve cooperation and coordination of the local community for the development of community-based ecotourism (Liu et al., 2014). Community-based ecotourism contributes to economic efficiency, social value and environmental sustainability for sustainable development (Mbaiwa, 2004). Also, CBETM allows the local community to preserve their cultural heritage. CBET as a commonly supporting connection between conservation, livelihoods and cultural integrity (Hoole, 2010; Stone and Rogerson, 2011; Eshetu, 2014; Tran and Walter, 2014). Eshun and Tonto (2014) claims that ecotourism can assist in the survival of culture and benefit the local community to distinguish and respect their unique culture and history. Overall, the results found significant interaction among local community's intention to participate in CBETM for sustainable development and other factors such as motivation to be involved with CBETM, and social, economic and cultural impacts on ecotourism management. The CFA results suggest that locals' intention to contribute towards CBETM is impacted by five major factors of sustainable
development. Such indicators form the basis for further customised education programmes for the local community. The results of the study also recommend that knowledge regarding the local environmental resources and administrative principles of ecotourism can be integrated into the education programmes at a level graspable by the local residents to motivate them and improve their contribution towards ecotourism practices. The observations from the study advocate that economic, social, cultural impacts influence the motivation to be involved with community-based ecotourism and intention to take part in CBET. Economic, social and cultural impacts, with a medium effect size of 0.45, 0.34, and 0.40 correspondingly affect the motivation factor to be involved with community-based ecotourism and intention to participate has a positive and direct effect on the compliance of the community to engage with CBETM. Shen and Saijo (2008) observed that wealthy people respond positively to environmental issues. This implies the economic, social and cultural development of the local community has an influence on CBETM for sustainable management of natural resources. 7. Conclusion and recommendation Community-based ecotourism forms the basis for sustainable development. Community development makes essential resources available to the community to improve their standard of living, to safeguard their natural and cultural legacy and to provide them
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with economic prospects. This encourages societal development and environmental health of the community via sustainable economic growth. Consequently, by enabling the community to own and operate ecotourism activities in the comfort of their homes through community-based initiatives, restraints arising from social frustration, unmanageable mistreatment of resources and financial leaks and other associated tribulations could be minimised. The basic administrative issues to be addressed includes correlation of government support, sustainable utilisation of local resources, the involvement of stakeholders in profit sharing programmes, the growth of local institutions with regional and national levels, education and training. This study advocates the practice of community-based ecotourism management to uphold the end goal to safeguard the nautical environment from damages and to improve the socioeconomic standing of MPCs in Malaysia. CBET can help fulfil many needs and demands such as conservation and protection of natural and cultural resources; guarantee community involvement and management in tourism development and activities to facilitate the protection of cultural rights of affected native folks; provide crucial training and skills relevant to the local tourism industry to the members of the community; and integrate public and private sector activities. Conducting drills like town effort programmes, social research and mapping, visitor information and awareness, training and capacity building and tracking improvements in its region of command. Community-based ecotourism is a well thought out scheme to generate remuneration for the local community and enhancing awareness of natural conservation. All manifestations of tourist activities should be green minimising enormous waste and wastewater generation by encouraging ecological protection behaviour, empowering women and securing multi-racial society and customs. With the help from the government, local communities may broaden their prospects to invest in tourism related organisations by allowing 100% residence for housing and eateries and 30%e70% in tourist organisations. Acknowledgement The author(s) would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for funding this research group no (RG-1436-037). References Adomssent, M., 2013. Exploring universities' transformative potential for sustainability-bound learning in changing landscapes of knowledge communication. J. Clean. Prod. 49, 11e24. Aipanjiguly, S., Jacobson, S.K., Flamm, R., 2003. Conserving manatees: knowledge, attitudes, and intentions of boaters in Tampa Bay, Florida. Conserv. Biol. 17 (4), 1098e1105. Ajzen, I., 1985. From intentions to actions: a theory of planned behavior. In: Kuhl, J., Beckmann, J. (Eds.), Action Control: from Cognition to Behavior. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelber, New York, pp. 11e39. Armstrong, R., 2012. An analysis of the conditions for success of community based tourism enterprises. ICRT Occas. Pap. 21, 1e52. Barr, S., Gilg, A.W., 2007. A conceptual framework for understanding and analyzing attitudes towards environmental behaviour. Geografiska Ann. Series B Hum. Geogr. 89 (4), 361e379. Bennett, N.J., Dearden, P., 2014. Why local people do not support conservation: community perceptions of marine protected area livelihood impacts, governance and management in Thailand. Mar. Policy 44, 107e116. Bhatta, K.D., 2008. Urban Heritage Conservation: promoting Sustainable Community Development: a case of Historic Town Thimi, Nepal. HKU theses Online. HKUTO. Brandon, K., 1996. Ecotourism and Conservation: a Review of Key Issues. The World Bank. Chinna, K., 2009. Structural equation modeling using AMOS. In: Paper Presented at Lecture for AMOS Workshop, 19e20 January 2009. University Technology MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia. Chiu, C.M., Wang, E.T.G., 2008. Understanding Web-based learning continuance intention: the role of subjective task value. Inf. Manag. 45, 194e201.
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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Ocean & Coastal Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ocecoaman
Community-based ecotourism management for sustainable development of marine protected areas in Malaysia Muhammad Mehedi Masud a, *, Abdullah Mohammed Aldakhil b, Abdelmohsen A. Nassani b, Mohammad Nurul Azam c, d a
Department of Development Studies, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia King Saud University, Department of Management, College of Business Administration, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia d Daffodil International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh b c
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Received 15 June 2016 Received in revised form 22 October 2016 Accepted 16 November 2016
This study explores the factors that influence the community's participation in managing communitybased ecotourism (CBETM) for sustainable development of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Peninsular Malaysia. CBETM ensures community involvement for effective sustainable management as well as supporting environmental conservation practices. To achieve the objectives of the study, a quantitative method was applied, and data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The major findings of this study indicate that environmental knowledge for sustainable development, motivation to be involved with CBETM, perceived economic impact of CBETM, perceived social impact of CBETM and perceived cultural impact of CBETM have a greater influence on intention to participate in CBETM. It implies that these factors lead to the formation of positive intention in managing CBETM and promote community participation. This study will help policymakers to take relevant management policies to increase environmental knowledge for sustainable development, to motivate local community in CBETM, and to increase economic, social and cultural benefits among residents. These benefits encourage community involvement in CBETM that will support environmental planning to ensure environmental conservation practices among tourists and residents. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Community Ecotourism Environment Management Sustainable development
1. Introduction Malaysia is considered one of the most prosperous countries in Southeast Asia partly because of its rich marine resources. This enables Malaysia to maintain its position as an exceptional tourist destination and has supported economic growth, which directly increases the standard of living of the local community. Specifically, MPAs are considered exceptional tourist destinations in Malaysia (Tahir, 2008). The tourism industry of Malaysia contributes significantly to the economy and has proven itself a sector that stimulates economic growth (Vasanth, 2005; Jaafar and Maideen, 2012). MPAs in Malaysia are managed by a top-down approach because of its strong centralist political interference on coastal and fisheries
* Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (M.M. Masud), aaldakhil@ hotmail.com (A.M. Aldakhil), [email protected] (A.A. Nassani), mazamd@ gmail.com (M.N. Azam). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.11.023 0964-5691/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
management (Siry, 2006). It indicates that Federal Government controls MPAs, not State governments. This has resulted in the lack of coordination between the Federal and the State governments where each planning agency is in conflict with others (Siry, 2006). Another important issue is that the Federal Government established the MPAs without prior discussion with the local community. This has hampered local community-based management practices within MPAs in Malaysia (Siry, 2006) leading to a negative perception of community-based ecotourism (Er et al., 2012). The local community's understanding of economic, social and €rn environmental issues is the basis of shaping related policies. To et al. (2008) found that poor involvement of local communities in the establishment and management of protected areas resulted in unfavourable behaviour towards sustainable use of natural resources. Social capital plays a vital role to improve cooperation and coordination of the local community for the development of community-based ecotourism (Liu et al., 2014). Participation of the local community helps build confidence for long term sustainability
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and ensure sustainable use and management of natural resources that reduce the adverse effects of anthropogenic exercises on the environment. This study attempts to analyse the perception of the local community towards CBETM and its economic impact on the development of the community within MPAs.
1.1. Overview of marine protected areas in Malaysia Marine protected areas were created in the early 1980s when it was realised that marine fisheries have declined. To improve fishery resources, it was considered important that the coral reef areas inhabited by different commercial fish species, breed, feed and grow, must be protected. The coral reef areas are an essential habitat as they are exposed to numerous stressors caused by human actions. Given the situation, in 1983, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, led the Ministry of Agriculture to establish marine parks under Parts 41 to 45 of the Fisheries Act 1985. The main objective of creating marine parks is to protect, conserve and manage in perpetuity representative marine ecosystems of importance, particularly coral reefs and their flora and fauna, so they remain in good condition for future generations. According to the Department of Fisheries Malaysia (2012), a total of 53 MPAs in Malaysia under the 1985 Act was designated as marine parks. The very short history of the establishment of marine parks in Malaysia is presented in Table 1. The Fishing Regulations (restricted area) was adopted under the Fisheries Act, 1963. In 1985, 22 islands in the states of Kedah, Terengganu, Pahang and Johor were declared as Fishing Prohibited Area (FPA) under the 1963 Fisheries Act. The Fisheries Act was adopted in 1985, replacing the 1963 law on fisheries, which led to declaring three islands off the coast of Sarawak as FPA. In 1994, 38 islands in the state of Kedah, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor and Labuan Federal Territory were declared officially as marine parks in Malaysia under the Fisheries Act, 1985. Management of the marine park island conceptual plan for Peninsular Malaysia was formed with a collective effort of the marine park, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Malaysia and Canada Fund. In 2004, the marine park section was moved from the Fisheries Department in a new direction under the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) with a new vision, mission, goals and strategic plan for the new management of marine parks. In 2006, June 14, the Minister Council meeting approved the formation of the Department of Marine Park Malaysia (DMPM). In 2007, July 16, the marine park section officially became the Department of Marine Parks Malaysia. In 2012 this DMPM forged closer collaboration with local communities by introducing alternative livelihood programmes, training of the Community Advisory Committee, closer collaboration with NGOs and local universities in research and monitoring.
105
2. Literature review Community-based ecotourism focuses on environmental, social and cultural sustainability and plays a vital role in meeting the challenges of sustainability of world tourism (UNEP, 2011). In CBETM, local community members are considered protectors of natural resources and areas and expert in cultural, environmental and livelihood. Community-based ecotourism involves residents in conservation practices and often increases environmental awareness among residents (Higgins-Desbiolles, 2009). To make the appropriate decision in the environmental context, an individual must have a clear understanding of environmental issues. (Hayombe et al., 2012; Zhang and Lei, 2012). Wanga et al. (2013) found an association between residents' environmental knowledge and their attitudes towards ecotourism. Participation of local communities in ecotourism can be motivated by having suitable management strategies that target improving local understanding of the environmental issues, stimulating favourable attitudes towards ecotourism and developing environmental plans (Zhang and Lei, 2012). The lack of information about environmental problems has adverse impacts on local environmental behaviour. Environmental knowledge is an important variable that affects the level of environmental engagement (Barr and Gilg, 2007). Individuals who have excelled in learning the natural issues are more inclined to act in an ecological manner, ceteris paribus (Oguz et al., 2011). Different researchers have recommended that an absence of appropriate information or an overabundance of knowledge may prompt people to take steps that might harm the environment. If such people are more mindful of environmental issues and their reasons, they will be more interested in acting towards the earth in more rational ways. One of the greatest contentions towards getting the best type of natural activity is through knowledge. People with information, abilities and qualities will contribute to a stable and growing world (Adomssent, 2013; Lozano et al., 2013). Vicente-Molina et al. (2013) found that knowledge has a significant influence on pro-environmental behaviour and attitudes towards the environment. This paper examines the essential connection between the factors that affects the locals' intention to participate in community-based ecotourism with aimed the strengthening the ability of communities for sustainable use of natural resources within MPAs. In a nutshell, there is a correlation between environmental knowledge and environmental behaviour. Thus improving locals' environmental knowledge can encourage favourable attitudes towards ecotourism (Zhang and Lei, 2012). The sustainable use of the environment can be improved when locals have constructive insight into sustainable management (Bennett and Dearden, 2014). Motivation plays a significant role in terms of making human beings dedicated. Motivation is required for the effective
Table 1 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Malaysia. History of MPAs in Malaysia
Location of Marine Park
No of MPAs
1983: The Fisheries Regulations was enacted under the Fisheries Act, 1963 1985: 22 islands in the states of Kedah, Terengganu, Pahang and Johor were declared as FPA under the Fisheries Act of 1963. Fisheries Act 1985 was enacted, replacing the Fisheries Act 1963 1994:38 islands in the state of Kedah, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor and Federal Territory of Labuan were declared and gazetted as marine parks Malaysia under the Fisheries Act, 1985, 2004: Marine Park Section shifted from Fisheries Department to a new management under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) 2006: Department of marine parks Malaysia was established in MNRE 2012-present: Formulation of Policies and Management Plans for Marine Parks
Peninsular Malaysia Sarawak
42 3
Sabah
6 and 2 proposed
Total
53 Marine Parks
Source: Department of Marine Park, Malaysia (2012).
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participation at the community level. CBETM can motivate local communities in various ways such as bringing economic benefits, guaranteeing resources for future generations, participation in decision-making process and developing the cultural identity. The core policy of Protected Areas is the preservation of natural resources, so it is reasonably imperative to evaluate their social impacts on the local community to obtain the effective outcomes of conservation practices (De Lange et al., 2016). The CBET seeks to create an equilibrium between conservation and local community livelihoods, conserving biodiversity simultaneously dropping rural poverty and accomplishing both goals on a realistic basis. CBETM is operated by locals who are responsible for administrative decisions, and profits are exclusively theirs (Khanal and Babar, 2007). Community-based ecotourism encompasses three major laws of sustainable development i.e. economic efficiency, social value and environmental sustainability (Mbaiwa, 2004). Economic efficiency ensures people have access and enjoy high standards of living and that benefits are shared equally among all people involved in the activity. Social equity means all the participating user groups of CBET must have equal and just opportunities and access to resources as well as a fair share of revenues, right to participate in the decision-making process and administration related to tourism activity. All members of a community involved in CBET must benefit from the project. Ecological sustainability confirms natural resource preservation and respects the host community. CBETM ensures the community's’ empowerment and ownership, conservation of natural and cultural resources, socioeconomic development and quality visitor experience (Hiwasaki, 2006). These factors will motivate the local community to participate in CBETM. CBETM is a well thought out means for sustainable development. Sustainable tourism directs to the management of all resources in a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while upholding cultural integrity, essential ecological developments, natural diversity and life support scheme (Muhanna, 2006). Sole reasons for the development of community are to provide them with the essential wherewithal to improve their living conditions, to conserve their natural and cultural heritage and to offer monetary prospects (Bhatta, 2008). It also provides sustainable economic growth by promoting social development and environmental health of the community. Gaining success and sustain community-based tourism requires multi-institutional support. In view of the fact that communitybased ecosystem is a people-centric method functioning towards rational benefit share and elevating poverty, it is sure to inspire the government and the community to preserve their natural and cultural resources (Armstrong, 2012). If used with appropriate planning and administration, CBETM can be used as a device to promote conservation and can develop rural, remote and poor communities in a suitable manner simultaneously. Sustainable development of natural resources can contribute to economic growth, improve standards of living, create job opportunities and increase the welfare of communities living near these resources (Howarth, 2012). Nevertheless, local people can only achieve optimum benefits of the proposed sustainable development if they become a fundamental part of the process. For certain achievement of sustainable development, it is important that ecotourism must be a community-based initiative where the community owns and manages the business enterprises. Greater participation means more extensive economic profits are available to the communities. As that local community relies on the economic benefits, it should act as motivation for local participation in the preservation of natural and cultural resources (Coria and Calfucura, 2012). Ecotourism creates long-term benefits that are equitably distributed between receiving communities and may be used to improve
community infrastructure continually. CBET meets communal appeal for respectable tourism leading to economic, social and ethical added value. It appears to be the most thriving form of sustainable tourism (Goodwin and Santilli, 2009). Other focal points for CBET are human welfare as well as social, economic and cultural viability of the host communities in the long-run. Successful implementation of community-based ecotourism pointed towards the fact that major hurdles are a reduction of impacts, equal distribution of benefits of development and incorporated countrywide policies for rural area development (Foucat, 2002; Brandon, 1996). CBET as a reciprocally emphasising connection between conservation, livelihoods and cultural integrity (Hoole, 2010; Stone and Rogerson, 2011; Tran and Walter, 2014). Eshun and Tonto (2014) claims that ecotourism may help in the survival of culture and help local communities to distinguish and respect their unique culture and history. Finally, to generate the social acceptability of MPAs, the effective involvement of stakeholders is needed for effective management of natural resources (Gall and Rodwell, 2016). Having an understanding of the social acceptability will enrich the chances of being a successful MPA. Simultaneously, social, cultural and economic factors and favourable attitudes are needed for the successful management of MPAs (Mascia, 2003; Fiske, 1992; Himes, 2007). Six important elements have been identified by Rossiter and Levine (2014) as “degree of community involvement, socio-economic features, ecological factors, MPA designation, governance and implementation”. These factors contribute significantly to the success of MPAs. Furthermore, various strategies are applied for the successful management of MPAs, but the success of these strategies depend on their social acceptability among local communities (Jones et al., 2012). In this relationship, CBETM could play a key role in achieving these elements within MPAs. Therefore, based on the above review of the literature, we develop the following conceptual framework. 3. Conceptual framework To achieve the research objectives, a research model was developed grounded on the Theory of Reason Action (TRA) (Ajzen, 1985). The research model used behavioural intention and behaviour as two components of TRA. Behavioural intention is an individual's willingness to perform a given behaviour. Having a positive intention to do something is a prerequisite while behaviour is a visible response in a given situation with respect to a specified goal. This study, therefore, tests the intention of the local community to participate in CBETM within MPAs in Peninsular Malaysia. The research model also considers economic variables such as motivation to be involved with CBETM, environmental knowledge, perceived economic, perceived social and perceived cultural impact of CBETM on community intention and participation in managing CBET within MPAs in Peninsular Malaysia. The model was tested in a single diagram using structural equation modelling as shown in Fig. 1. Thus, to understand the community's perception related to the study, intention to participate in CBETM within MPAs was considered a dependent variable. The intent to participate CBETM, motivation to be involved with communitybased ecotourism; environmental knowledge for sustainable management; perceived economic impact of community-based ecotourism; perceived social impact of community-based ecotourism; and perceived cultural impact of community-based ecotourism are independent variables while intention to participate in community-based ecotourism for sustainable management is the dependent variable as shown in Eq. (1). In addition, participating in CBETM is considered the dependent variables while the intention to participate in CBETM is the independent variable as
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sampling schemes to avoid multiple selections of the same respondent. To get a suitable sample size from this population, since the population (number of households) is known in our study, the following formula can be used.
ENVKSD MTVCBETM PEICBETM
IPCBETM
PCBETM
NW ¼ N/(1 þ Nd2)
PSICBETM PCICBETM
Fig. 1. Conceptual framework. ENVKSD ¼ Environmental knowledge for sustainable management; MTVCBET ¼ Motivation to be involved with community-based ecotourism; PEICBETM ¼ Perceived Economic Impact of community-based ecotourism; PSICBETM ¼ Perceived social impact of community-based ecotourism; PCICBET ¼ Perceived cultural impact of community-based ecotourism; IPCBETM ¼ Intention to participate in community-based ecotourism for sustainable management. PCBETM ¼ Participation in managing community-based ecotourism.
shown in Eq. (1). IPCBETM ¼ b0 þ b1 þ ui
107
MTVCBET
þ b2
ENVKSD
þ b3
PEICBET
PCICBET
PCBETM ¼ ¼ b0 þ b1
IPCBETM
þ b4
PSICBET
þ b5 (1)
þ ui
(2)
4. Research methods and materials 4.1. Population and socio-demographic profile of the respondents The study covers three marine protected areas in Malaysia namely Tioman Island Marine Park, The Redang Island Marine Park and The Tinggi Island as shown in Fig. 2. These three marine parks contain approximately 5617 residents with 1322 households (Population Census, 2010). Table 2 displays the demographic outline of the respondents. The results reveal that the respondents consist of 77% of males and 23% females. In terms of age distribution, the age of households ranged between 18 and over 60 years. As for the educational status of the households, 43% have primary education, while 27%, 16%, 4%, and 3% have higher secondary, lower secondary, diploma, and university education, respectively. In contrast, 7% of the households do not have formal education. The findings also show that the majority of households had a (37%) average monthly income between RM 751 up to RM 1500 while roughly 24% of the households earned between RM 441 up to RM 750. Of the households, 8% had incomes between RM0 up to RM 440 per month while 16%, 8%, and 4% of the households had an income between RM 2001 up to RM 3,000, RM 1501 up to RM 2000 and RM 3001 up to RM 4000 correspondingly. Only 3% of households had an income range of more than RM 5000 per month. The result also shows that households within MPAs are involved with various occupations to generate their income. 4.2. Sampling technique, size and data collection The study used the stratified simple random sampling technique. Using stratified proportionate sampling technique and looking at the caring capacity of the study area, we clustered Tioman Island Marine Park into eight strata based on geographic location. The Redang Island Marine Park and Tinggi Island Marine Park were considered one stratum. Then, using simple random sampling, respondents were selected based on their address and households lot numbers and followed without the replacement
(3)
where, NW ¼ new sample size, N ¼ number of households (total population) and d2 ¼ margin of error. The study area contains approximately 5617 residents with 1322 households. The formula gives us a sample size of 307.83. 350 questionnaires were circulated among households through face-to-face interviews. Of the 350 questionnaires, only 30 questionnaires were inadequate, resulting in 320 usable questionnaires. The response rate was nearly 91%. The questionnaire was the main instrument for collecting data. It was separated into sections A, and B. Section ‘A’ contained the communities' perception on CBETM and 5 being “strongly agree”. Section ‘B’ contained the socio-demographic profile of the respondents. 5. Results 5.1. Reliability analysis Reliability is carried out on all variables to determine if the measurement scale is indeed measuring what it is supposed to measure. Table 3 shows that all the variables achieved a value exceeding 0.70 (Hair et al., 2010). Hence, the overall survey instruments appear to have achieved the required level of internal consistency. It states that all factors offer sufficient exposure of the notions, all elements are clear and understandable, and that the questionnaire is a consistent measurement tool, proposing adequate internal consistency and reliability of the measurement scale. 5.2. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) The result of the CFA test indicates that all seven variables have adequate model fit indices. The CFA revealed that the normed chisquare (X2/df) value within a threshold value of 3; the CFI value is above the cut-off value of 0.90; and the RMSEA value is within the cut-off value of 0.080 as shown in Table 4. The CFA also shows that all the factor loadings range between 0.67 and 0.86. It indicates that all the items have significant item loading which is greater than 0.70 except two items as shown in Table 6. It confirms the existence of discriminant and convergent validity. 5.3. Validating the measurement model The convergent and discriminant validity were tested through the measurement model (Janssens et al., 2008; Kline, 2010). The result revealed that the average variance extracted (AVE) equals or exceeds the cut-off value of 0.50. The standardised factor loadings of all items were larger than 0.50, ranging from 0.67 to 0.86, and statistically significant at 0.001% level. This indication maintained the unidimensional of each scale and achieved the convergent validity. To assess the reliability of the internal consistency, Composite Reliability (CR) and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) were calculated. CR for all variables was greater than the threshold value of 0.70 as suggested by Hair et al. (2010) and Chinna (2009). The AVE values for all seven factors exceeded the minimum criteria of >0.50 as shown in Table 7. It implies that the proposed constructs have observed the convergent and discriminant validity as the correlation coefficient value between two constructs is within the suggested value of r ¼ 0.85 as shown in Table 5.
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Fig. 2. Map of study area. Source: http://www.asia-experience.com/Borneo-Malaysia.
Table 2 Socio-demographic profile of the respondents. Variables Gender Male Female Age 18-30 years 31-45 years 46-60 years Above 60 years Education No formal Education Primary education Lower secondary, Higher secondary Diploma University education Income RM0 up to RM 440 RM 441 up to RM 750 RM 751 up to RM 1500 RM 1501 up to RM 2000 RM 2001 up to RM 3,000, RM 3001 up to RM 5000 Above RM 5000 Occupation Housewife Fishermen Tourism related Job Business Government employee General workers Others Total
Percentage (%) 77 23 23 28 33 16 7 43 27 16 4 3 8 24 37 8 16 4 3 7 8 16 20 9 29 11 100
5.4. Validity of the structural model All variables were combined into a single model to test the relationship between independent and dependent variables. This
fully structured model is a representation of the research model. The full structured model shows satisfactory goodness-of-fit with relative chi-square value CMIN/df of 2.891, RMSEA of 0.078, RMR of 0.053 GFI of 0.901 NFI of 0.900 and CFI of 0.922. The fully structured model summary indicates the presence of absolute, incremental and parsimony fit, as shown in Table 6. Fig. 3 shows the graphical presentation of the proposed research model with correlation coefficient among independent variables and regression coefficient of independent and dependent variables. The figure indicates the relationship among all the variables with R2 value. The findings revealed that there is a statistically significant relationship between environmental knowledge for sustainable development and intention to participate CBETM at <0.001% significance level. Similarly, the result shows the statically significant relationship between motivation to be involved with CBETM and intention to participate in CBETM at <0.001% significant level. The results also found that perceived economic benefits and cultural impacts have a significant influence on intention to participate CBETM at <0.001% significant level. Eventually, we found the expected relationship based on TRA between intention to participate in CBETM and participation in managing EBETM at <0.001% significance level as presented in Table 7.
6. Discussions The findings revealed that intention to participate in CBETM is influenced by environmental knowledge for sustainable development. This finding is consistent with the studies of Zhang and Lei (2012), Aipanjiguly et al. (2003), Hsu and Roth (1996), and Lai and Nepal (2006). It reflects that knowledge of the local environmental resources undeniably facilitates locals' participation in community-based ecotourism management. There is a nexus between environmental knowledge and ecotourism practices. This is because, ecotourism focuses on environmental sustainability within tourism industry (UNEP, 2011), and it plays an important
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Table 3 Reliability analysis. Constructs
Cronbach's Alpha (a)
Mean
Std. deviation
Environmental knowledge for sustainable development Motivation to be involved with CBETM Perceived economic impact of CBETM Perceived social impact of CBETM Perceived cultural impact of CBETM Intention to participate in CBETM Participation in CBETM
0.88 0.82 0.84 0.86 0.80 0.86 0.84
3.9919 4.0300 4.0980 3.6060 3.4822 3.5004 3.7607
0.460 0.425 0.449 0.765 0.687 0.660 0.475
Table 4 Construct validity of confirmatory factory analysis. Fit indices for CFA Measurement Model: Normed X2 ¼ 2.876, CFI ¼ 0. 912, RMSEA ¼ 0.072, RMR ¼ 0.063 ENVKSD: Environmental sustainability is required for protecting and conserving natural resources Human actions are contributing to changes in our atmosphere and climate systems Climate change is happening that has greater impact on sustainable development PEICBETM: CBET will confirm to sustainable economic development CBET will create multiple economic opportunities CBET can attract more investment to local community Overall standard of living might improve considerably because of CBETM PSICBETM: CBET can bring collective benefits such as infrastructure development which are used by the community as a whole, roads, schools, clinics, etc. CBET can improve cooperation between community residents CBET might decrease the crime rate within MPAs PCICBETM: CBET will encourage a variety of cultural activities by the local residents CBET can have more cultural exchange between tourists and residents CBET can hold our precious traditional culture CBET will respect for cultural diversity is necessary for SD MTVCBETM: I am motivated to involve with CBETM to protect and conserve natural resources within MPAs CBETM is essentials for sustainable development of MPAs CBETM might play a significant role in developing well-being of MPC IPCBET: I want to participate in community-based ecotourism I feel CBET is necessary for sustainable development I want to be a committee member of CBET I am interested in involving in implementation of CBET with help of the Department of Marine Parks PCBETM: I am giving all the support for community-based ecotourism management I am already engaged with CBETM It is my concern to inspire my fellow citizen/peers to participate in CBETM a
Loadings
SMCa
0.86 0.80 0.81
0.74 0.64 0.66
0.78 0.85 0.70 0.69
0.61 0.72 0.49 0.48
0.79 0.76 0.86
0.62 0.58 0.74
0.76 0.83 0.87 0.85
0.58 0.69 0.76 0.72
0.80 0.79 0.70
0.64 0.62 0.49
0.78 0.77 0.80 0.82
0.60 0.60 0.64 0.67
0.81 0.79 0.67
0.65 0.62 0.45
Squared Multiple Correlation.
Table 6 Model fit summary.
Table 5 Convergent and discriminant validity.
F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7
CR
AVE
F1
F2
0.867 0.751 0.861 0.763 0.827 0.845 0.834
0.610 0.604 0.608 0.525 0.540 0.580 0.560
0.781 0.362 0.707 0.208 0.772 0.703 0.451
0.777 0.511 0.214 0.442 0.669 0.234
F3
0.779 0.184 0.685 0.778 0.663
F4
0.724 0.111 0.187 0.458
F5
0.734 0.551 0.341
F6
0.762 0.231
F7
0.748
Note: Legends: F1 ¼ Environmental Knowledge for sustainable development, F2 ¼ Perceived Economic Impact of community-based ecotourism, and F3 ¼ Perceived social impact of community-based ecotourism; F4 ¼ Perceived cultural impact of community-based ecotourism, F5 ¼ Motivation to be involved with community-based ecotourism, F6 ¼ Intention to participate in communitybased ecotourism and F7 ¼ Participation in community-based ecotourism management. Diagonal elements are in bold are the square root of the average variance extracted (AVE). Off-diagonal elements are the correlations among the constructs. For discriminate validity, diagonal elements should be larger than off-diagonal elements (Chiu and Wang, 2008).
Model fit indices Absolute fit index RMSEA RMR GFI Incremental fit index: CFI NFI Parsimony fit index X2/df
Threshold value
Observed value
0.08 0.10 0.90
0.078 0.053 0.901
0.90 0.90
0.922 0.900
5.0
2.981
role in addressing the sustainability challenges of global tourism. The study also found the significant relationship between motivation to be involved with CBETM and intent to participate in community-based ecotourism. It means that the local community is highly motivated to participate with CBETM. They believe that CBETM is essential for protecting and conserving natural resources and the sustainable development of the local community. These
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Table 7 Hypothesis path coefficients. Hypothesised paths ENVKSD / IPCBETM MTVCBETM / IPCBETM PEICBETM / IPCBETM PSICBETM / IPCBETM PCICBETM / IPCBETM IPCBETM / PCBETM
H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H6
Coefficient (b)
C.R
Assessment
0.54*** 0.40*** 0.37*** 0.56*** 0.38*** 0.25***
5.918 2.563 2.443 3.874 2.333 2.034
Supported Supported Supported Supported Supported Supported
R2 suggests motivation to be involved with CBETM, environmental knowledge for sustainable development, perceived economic impact, perceived social impact, and perceived cultural impact on intention to participate in CBETM explains 78% of the variance in intention to participate in CBETM. Intention to participate in CBETM explains 63% of the variance in participation in CBETM.
ENVKSD .36 .71
.54
MTVCBETM
.40
.44
.70 .20 .11
.56
.54
PSICBETM
.21
.37
PEICBETM
.68
e1
e2
.78
IPCBETM
.63
.25
PCBETM
.38
.18
PCICBETM Fig. 3. Hypothesis model with path coefficients. ENVKSD ¼ Environmental knowledge for sustainable management; MTVCBET ¼ Motivation to be involved with community-based ecotourism; PEICBETM ¼ Perceived economic impact of community-based ecotourism; PSICBETM ¼ Perceived social impact of community-based ecotourism; PCICBET ¼ Perceived cultural impact of community-based ecotourism; IPCBETM ¼ Intention to participate in community-based ecotourism for sustainable management. PCBETM ¼ Participation in managing community-based ecotourism.
motivational factors inspire them to participate in CBETM. CBETM ensures the community's empowerment and ownership, conservation of natural and cultural resources, socioeconomic development and quality visitor experience (Hiwasaki, 2006). Moreover, the results exposed that economic benefits inspired the local community to take part in ecotourism practices. CBETM offers many economic and social benefits to the local community. Social capital plays a vital role to improve cooperation and coordination of the local community for the development of community-based ecotourism (Liu et al., 2014). Community-based ecotourism contributes to economic efficiency, social value and environmental sustainability for sustainable development (Mbaiwa, 2004). Also, CBETM allows the local community to preserve their cultural heritage. CBET as a commonly supporting connection between conservation, livelihoods and cultural integrity (Hoole, 2010; Stone and Rogerson, 2011; Eshetu, 2014; Tran and Walter, 2014). Eshun and Tonto (2014) claims that ecotourism can assist in the survival of culture and benefit the local community to distinguish and respect their unique culture and history. Overall, the results found significant interaction among local community's intention to participate in CBETM for sustainable development and other factors such as motivation to be involved with CBETM, and social, economic and cultural impacts on ecotourism management. The CFA results suggest that locals' intention to contribute towards CBETM is impacted by five major factors of sustainable
development. Such indicators form the basis for further customised education programmes for the local community. The results of the study also recommend that knowledge regarding the local environmental resources and administrative principles of ecotourism can be integrated into the education programmes at a level graspable by the local residents to motivate them and improve their contribution towards ecotourism practices. The observations from the study advocate that economic, social, cultural impacts influence the motivation to be involved with community-based ecotourism and intention to take part in CBET. Economic, social and cultural impacts, with a medium effect size of 0.45, 0.34, and 0.40 correspondingly affect the motivation factor to be involved with community-based ecotourism and intention to participate has a positive and direct effect on the compliance of the community to engage with CBETM. Shen and Saijo (2008) observed that wealthy people respond positively to environmental issues. This implies the economic, social and cultural development of the local community has an influence on CBETM for sustainable management of natural resources. 7. Conclusion and recommendation Community-based ecotourism forms the basis for sustainable development. Community development makes essential resources available to the community to improve their standard of living, to safeguard their natural and cultural legacy and to provide them
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with economic prospects. This encourages societal development and environmental health of the community via sustainable economic growth. Consequently, by enabling the community to own and operate ecotourism activities in the comfort of their homes through community-based initiatives, restraints arising from social frustration, unmanageable mistreatment of resources and financial leaks and other associated tribulations could be minimised. The basic administrative issues to be addressed includes correlation of government support, sustainable utilisation of local resources, the involvement of stakeholders in profit sharing programmes, the growth of local institutions with regional and national levels, education and training. This study advocates the practice of community-based ecotourism management to uphold the end goal to safeguard the nautical environment from damages and to improve the socioeconomic standing of MPCs in Malaysia. CBET can help fulfil many needs and demands such as conservation and protection of natural and cultural resources; guarantee community involvement and management in tourism development and activities to facilitate the protection of cultural rights of affected native folks; provide crucial training and skills relevant to the local tourism industry to the members of the community; and integrate public and private sector activities. Conducting drills like town effort programmes, social research and mapping, visitor information and awareness, training and capacity building and tracking improvements in its region of command. Community-based ecotourism is a well thought out scheme to generate remuneration for the local community and enhancing awareness of natural conservation. All manifestations of tourist activities should be green minimising enormous waste and wastewater generation by encouraging ecological protection behaviour, empowering women and securing multi-racial society and customs. With the help from the government, local communities may broaden their prospects to invest in tourism related organisations by allowing 100% residence for housing and eateries and 30%e70% in tourist organisations. Acknowledgement The author(s) would like to extend their sincere appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for funding this research group no (RG-1436-037). References Adomssent, M., 2013. Exploring universities' transformative potential for sustainability-bound learning in changing landscapes of knowledge communication. J. Clean. Prod. 49, 11e24. Aipanjiguly, S., Jacobson, S.K., Flamm, R., 2003. Conserving manatees: knowledge, attitudes, and intentions of boaters in Tampa Bay, Florida. Conserv. Biol. 17 (4), 1098e1105. Ajzen, I., 1985. From intentions to actions: a theory of planned behavior. In: Kuhl, J., Beckmann, J. (Eds.), Action Control: from Cognition to Behavior. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelber, New York, pp. 11e39. Armstrong, R., 2012. An analysis of the conditions for success of community based tourism enterprises. ICRT Occas. Pap. 21, 1e52. Barr, S., Gilg, A.W., 2007. A conceptual framework for understanding and analyzing attitudes towards environmental behaviour. Geografiska Ann. Series B Hum. Geogr. 89 (4), 361e379. Bennett, N.J., Dearden, P., 2014. Why local people do not support conservation: community perceptions of marine protected area livelihood impacts, governance and management in Thailand. Mar. Policy 44, 107e116. Bhatta, K.D., 2008. Urban Heritage Conservation: promoting Sustainable Community Development: a case of Historic Town Thimi, Nepal. HKU theses Online. HKUTO. Brandon, K., 1996. Ecotourism and Conservation: a Review of Key Issues. The World Bank. Chinna, K., 2009. Structural equation modeling using AMOS. In: Paper Presented at Lecture for AMOS Workshop, 19e20 January 2009. University Technology MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia. Chiu, C.M., Wang, E.T.G., 2008. Understanding Web-based learning continuance intention: the role of subjective task value. Inf. Manag. 45, 194e201.
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