The development of sustainable livelihood framework for community-based ecotourism in developing countries

Abstract

Community-based ecotourism (CBE) ventures were introduced in the 1990s with the aim to enhance the livelihoods of the destination communities in developing countries. However, incorporating sustainable livelihood frameworks to analyse the communities’ livelihood changes in CBE remains unknown. Two pioneer ecotourism destinations located in lower Kinabatangan, Sabah, Malaysia have been chosen to assess livelihood changes induced by CBE ventures using a sustainable livelihood framework. Qualitative research design is adopted using in-depth interviews and field observation for data collection. It is revealed that CBE ventures have transformed the local communities as ecotourism entrepreneurs to generate income to secure livelihoods despite depending on fishing which was considered as the main livelihood activity. However, identified costs were hindering the local communities to enjoy the benefits of CBE, thereby distressing the overall livelihood sustainability. All the elements in the sustainable livelihood framework were captured in this study and are acknowledged as the best analytical tools to assess the livelihood changes of local communities through CBE ventures. The study proposed a revised sustainable livelihood framework with novel socio-cultural capital for CBE development in developing countries.