Ocean and Coastal Management 199 (2021) 105405 Available online 5 October 2020 0964-5691/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. The underlying drivers of sustainable management of natural resources: The case of marine protected areas (MPAs) Muhammad Mehedi Masud a, * , Azmah Othman a , Rulia Akhtar b , Md. Sohel Rana c a Department of Development Studies, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia b Ungku Aziz Centre for Development Studies, Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia c Department of Business Policy and Strategy, Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Environmental degradation Sustainable use Marine resources Marine protected areas ABSTRACT Economic, social and ecological development are seriously impeded by the deterioration of the environment – which creates detrimental effects on people’s livelihoods as well as natural resources management. This study aims to explore the predominant factors affecting natural resources management within marine protected areas (MPAs) and the impact of said factors. The data was collected using a survey questionnaire through face to face interaction with respondents. The structural equation model (SEM) was employed to analyse the collected data. The study found that economic, social, cultural and ecological development factors have a signifcant infuence on “sustainable use of natural resources”. By contrast, political and technological development does not have any signifcant relationship with sustainable use of natural resources. This might be because MPAs are not politically and technologically developed yet according to community expectations. Therefore, this study will propose some directives for policymakers to accelerate economic, social, cultural and ecological development – as well as to increase sustainability awareness and form favourable environmental attitudes among marine park communities to promote natural resource management. 1. Introduction This study aims to address the following research question: “How do economic, social, cultural, political, technological and ecological development factors affect the sustainable use of natural resources within marine protected areas?” These development components are considered to be the main underlying drivers of sustainable use of nat- ural resources. The idea of development is used concomitantly, but the defnition is not simple and clear. Basically, development refers to “the general transformation and destruction of the natural environment and of social relations in order to increase the production of commodities geared, by means of market exchange, to effective demand” (Rist, 2007, p.448, p.448)”. Development of MPAs around the world is seriously affected by the deterioration of the environment. There is a close link between the protection of protected areas, the conservation of biodi- versity and economic development. Economic development is the result of rapid and massive industrialization, which often causes environ- mental pollution and overexploitation of resources (Awan, 2013). Development without proper planning hampers the sustainable use of natural resources and accelerates environmental damage (Rinawati et al., 2013; Gurney et al., 2014). The number of people within MPAs is growing rapidly due to rapid industrialization and economic growth, which has put resources in coastal areas in a precarious state (Olaniyi et al., 2012; Adeel and Pomeroy, 2002). It is a complex matter to strike a balance between environmental preservation and community develop- ment, particularly for protected areas. Here, community refers to the marine park community, i.e. those who reside within these protected areas and hold common interests. However, Ghimire (1994) states that there are great opportunities to improve the livelihood security and standard of living of local people while simultaneously preserving and enhancing the natural habitat. Conservation initiatives can be social because they are designed to protect natural ecosystems and biodiversity, which are essential for systems and activities that support human life. Social sustainable development incorporates concepts of equality, enhance capacity, availability, engagement, upward mobility and social harmony (Mensah and Casadevall, 2019). Social development is defned by DfID (1999) as social resources from which people get support to contribute to their livelihoods. However, natural scientists, economists and other social scientists have failed to look systematically at the interactions between * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: mehedi@um.edu.my (M.M. Masud), g3azmah@um.edu.my (A. Othman), rulia@um.edu.my (R. Akhtar), sohelnaim@gmail.com (Md.S. Rana). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ocean and Coastal Management journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ocecoaman https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105405 Received 18 November 2019; Received in revised form 3 August 2020; Accepted 22 September 2020