Local community perception on the environmental impacts of ecotourism and their attitude towards ecotourism in Taman Negara Kuala Koh

Ecotourism is one of the solution that being implemented to solve the issue regarding the conservation of environment. Taman Negara Kuala Koh is one of the national parks that implement the ecotourism development. Although ecotourism can sustain environmental health, it also can be detrimental if the proper action and management are not properly addressed. Local community is one of the important elements within ecotourism development and they play a major role that contributes to both positive and negative impacts on conservation of environment. However, some of the local community is still lacking the awareness about the importance of ecotourism although it is being implemented at Taman Negara Kuala Koh. To maintain local community support on ecotourism activities, they must have positive perception and attitude towards the environmental impacts of ecotourism. Therefore, this study analysed the perceptions of local community towards environmental impacts of ecotourism and their attitudes towards ecotourism at TNKK. A total of 168 respondents participated in the survey. Questionnaires were distributed randomly among the local community who lived nearby the TNKK. Data collected from the survey were analysed under descriptive analysis and ANOVA analysis based on IBM SPSS Software. The findings show that perception of local community were positive and negative while their attitude was positive. Thus, it is important to increase the awareness among local community through more public involvement and environmental education to minimize negative perception and attitude of local community and maximize their positive perception and attitude.