Traditional Knowledge of Marine Resources and Their Relations to the Coastal Community's Economic Well-Being in Peninsular Malaysia

This study was conducted to analyse the practice of associated use of traditional knowledge (TK) on marine resources as new sources of wealth to enhance the economic well-being of the coastal communities. This study employed a qualitative research approach with a total of 117 respondents in Peninsular Malaysia. Convenience and purposive sampling methods were used to identify potential respondents and thematic analysis for the data analysis. The data was gathered through telephone interviews during the Movement Control Order (MCO) in Malaysia due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the study reveal that the associated use of traditional knowledge on marine resources does play an essential role in the economic well-being of coastal communities. This was assessed through the perspective of living standards and livelihood improvement. The potential of TK based on marine resources illustrates the opportunity for this practice to become a valuable economic resource and create employment opportunities among coastal communities to generate a sustainable source of income. This study can also change modern society's perception of the importance and benefits of TK based on marine resources. The implications of this study can be viewed from the theory, practice, and policy. Future studies could be expanded to the Borneo region of Malaysia to gather different perspectives, and a quantitative approach could be used to gather more extensive opinions. © 2022 WITPress. All rights reserved.

Potentials of associated traditional knowledge on marine resources for economic and general well-being among coastal communities in Terengganu, Malaysia

This study was conducted to explore the potential of associated traditional knowledge on marine resources for the sustainability of economic and general well-being among coastal communities in Terengganu. Using a qualitative study, twenty-six interviews were conducted. The study used convenience and snowball sampling to identify the other potential participants who had knowledge and experience about the topic. The study used thematic analysis to identify the required themes according to the objectives. Drawing upon sustainable livelihood theory for data interpretation, the findings indicate that traditional knowledge of marine resources plays an essential role in achieving economic well-being for the coastal community in Terengganu. This is viewed from the aspect of increased living standards and improved health quality. Although exploration of traditional knowledge on marine resources is limited among the modern generation, the implications of this study highlight that identification of certain marine resources as traditional medicine for health problem solutions, selling fresh marine resources, and production of processed food from marine resources could offer ways to improve the economy of coastal communities. The study was carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic, which had limited the number of participants interviewed. Therefore, the sample size obtained is relatively small to find more significant results. Future studies can be expanded through quantitative approach methods among traditional medicine practitioners and other communities in different regions that use marine resources in their daily life. © 2021 The Authors. Published by IASE. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).