Fostering Community Engagement in Protecting Coastal Zone in Malaysia

Abstract

For many years now, the coastal areas in Peninsular Malaysia have been experiencing coastal erosion issues. Various initiatives were executed to reduce the coastal areas from eroding further. This study aims at assessing the local community's beliefs and insight in protecting their beaches. Pantai Jeram and Pantai Remis were selected as the case study, and a questionnaire survey using purposive sampling was conducted involving 212 residents. Site observation and a focus group discussion were also operated. Results demonstrated severe damage to the coastal areas and revealed the awareness and willingness of the community to participate in community engagement programs.Keywords: Coastal Zone; Coastal Erosion; Coastal Management; Community EngagementeISSN 2398-4295 ©2020 The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.21834/ajbes.v5i18.186