Local Participation Benefits And Their Pro-Environmental Behaviour At Gunung Mulu National Park, Malaysia
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Date
2017-08
Authors
Paijo, Mohd Amirul Nizam
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
Ecotourism development in Gunung Mulu National Park emerges as an approach to tourism management, and emphasises the responsibilites to take action to achieve sustainable tourism development. Local community in Batu Bungan Village is one of the important stakeholders to practise ecotourism in that tourism destination. It argues that a deep understanding that social and economic benefits of ecotourism development will be earned as a result of local community participation in the development and at the same time encouraging their pro-environmental behaviour. The research objectives are: (i) To describe the local community’s participation in ecotourism development, (ii) To identify the social benefits of ecotourism towards the local community, (iii) To identify the economic benefits of ecotourism towards the local community, and (iv) To investigate the role of the socio-economic benefits in encouraging the pro-environment behaviour of the local community. A mixed method (quantitative and qualitative) is adapted and applied; and the data collection was conducted using questionnaire distribution to 180 local community of Batu Bungan Village and in-depth interview with 14 stakeholders who work under Gunung Mulu National Park and operating tourism business such as tour operator, café, restaurants, hostels and homestay. The purpose of the interview is to support the quantitative data from 180 respondents in the village due to several limitation such languange barriers and the respondents might be bias or emotional on answering the quesionnare during the data collection process. The finding reveals that local community in Batu Bungan Village is actively participate in ecotourism development of Gunung Mulu National Park. The socio-economic benefits earned as a result of the local participation such as empowerment and gender party for social; job employment, income generations through ecotourism and multiplier effects of ecotourism for economic. Unfortunately, not both of benefits are encouraging or effecting the local community pro-environmental behaviour, economic benefit encouraging local pro-environmental behaviour positively but none for social benefits. However, the study is limited to focus on local community in Batu Bungan Village rather that cover other villages near to Gunung Mulu National Park and only focusing on social and economic benefits of ecotourism development in the park. It suggests for further study on other villages local community participation in Gunung Mulu National Park ecotourism development anc focusing on environmental positive impact or the negative impacts of the development towards local community in Mulu, Sarawak.
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Keywords
Ecotourism development in Gunung Mulu National Park , emerges as an approach to tourism management