Ecotourism and its impacts on local communities in Malaysia: A case study of Bagan Lalang’s fishermen, Sepang, Selangor

Ecotourism has emerged as a vital component of a fast developing country’s tourism sector such as that of Malaysia. The Sepang Gold Coast (SGC) ecotourism project at Bagan Lalang, Sepang has been providing worldclass tourist facilities, bringing in tourists from around the world and impacting both the local ecosystem and community there, in particular, the fishing community. This study analysed the impacts of SGC ecotourism development on the Bagan Lalang’s fishing community. Primary data were gathered from 51 purposively sampled fishermen. The results of the study showed that the project construction phase had exerted larger negative impacts on both Bagan Lalang’s ecosystem and fishing community compared with the operational phase. Fishermen s average income decreased by 43.6% in tandem with the 45.0% average decline in fish catches during the construction phase. By contrast, during the operational phase, the average income increased by 36.6% despite a continuous drop in the fish catches. This discrepancy was due to the side jobs obtained by the fishing community from the SGC project. The fishing community also experienced some socio-economic, health, safety, physical environment aesthetics and cultural changes. Positive impacts were also gained by the local community in the form of business opportunities and infrastructure development while the negative impacts were observed in marine ecological degradation which affected fisherman’s operations and income.