International Journal of Business and Society, Vol. 19 S1, 2018, 17-25 INDICATORS OF GOVERNANCE OF MARINE ECOTOURISM RESOURCES: PERCEPTION OF COMMUNITIES IN PULAU PERHENTIAN, TERENGGANU Aswani Farhana Mohd Noh Universiti Putra Malaysia Ahmad Shuib  Universiti Putra Malaysia Shzee-Yew Tai Universiti Putra Malaysia Kusairi Mohd Noh Universiti Putra Malaysia ABSTRACT To be effective, the establishment of the Marine Protected Areas requires support from various stakeholders, which are directly or indirectly affected by the establishment. The support of relevant agencies to manage the Marine Protected Areas may depend on how the communities perceive the benefits of the establishment. The objective of this paper is to present the results of an analysis on the perception of local communities on the governance of the Marine Protected Areas by the relevant agencies. Data for the study were collected from members of the local communities on Pulau Perhentian using face-to-face interviews. The results show that most members of these communities were aware of the establishment of the Marine Protected Areas, though some were doubtful of the actual benefits of the establishment. Communities on Pulau Perhentian, which were directly dependent on the marine resources for their ecotourism-related businesses, were quite apprehensive of the ability of relevant agencies to act on reducing the encroachment of fishers in protected zones. Generally, the local communities agreed that the relevant agency were doing a good job of enforcing rules and regulations to protect the resources in the marine ecosystem. The cooperation among the stakeholders in adapting to the norms of governance was perceived as helpful in affecting the management of Marine Protected Areas. Keywords: Natural Resources; Protected Area; Conservation; Perceived Benefits; Enforcement. 1. INTRODUCTION The Tunku Abdul Rahman Park in Sabah was gazetted as a marine park in 1974, then in 1994 it was established as the first Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Malaysia. The park covers an area of 50 sq kilometres comprising five islands. At present, Malaysia has established 53 coral reef Marine Protected Areas, comprising 42 coral reef MPAs in Peninsular Malaysia established by the Department of Marine Park Malaysia (DMPM), eight in Sabah formed by the Sabah Wildlife Department and three in Sarawak created by the Forest Department of Sarawak (Department of Marine Parks Malaysia, 2011). Each Marine Park forms a protected area, in the sea, with one or two  Corresponding author: Ahmad Shuib, Institute of Agricultural and Food Policy Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. Email: mad.shuib@gmail.com