ASSESSING THE EXECUTIVE SUCCESS OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN IMPLEMENTING COMMUNITY-BASED ECOTOURISM PROJECTS: A CASE STUDY OF MALAYSIAN NATURE SOCIETY (MNS) WITHIN ORANG ASLI COMMUNITY AT ULU GEROH VILLAGE, GOPENG, MALAYSIA

Abstract

Many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) have been participating in ecotourism development with their own agenda, especially where tourism is linked with local communities and the environment. Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET) considers not only environmental but also economic and social goals. This study assumes that NGOs focus more on environmental conservation rather than other aspects of CBET while implementing CBET projects for rural communities. To this end, the aim of the study is to assess the success and shortcomings of NGOs in executing CBET projects by performing an inclusive research on the performance of the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) as the main NGO implemented the CBET project for Orang Asli community at Ulu Geroh village using the triangulation method. Considering all aspects of CBET is the best way to distinguish and implement it; therefore, it is essential to recognize the indicators forming CBET. Regarding literature review, 63 tentative CBET indicators under 6 main criteria were established following the Delphi technique to solicit expert opinion on the most essential indicators for CBET to succeed. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was subsequently applied to rank the 6 main CBET criteria which emphasized the importance of other CBET aspects over environmental aspect. However,  the findings from fieldwork proved the basic assumption of this study by demonstrating that environmental conservation dimension has been given greater emphasis since other CBET dimensions have been restricted.