**4.3 Environmental conservation programmes towards sustainable tourism**

According to [39], Langkawi Island has been acknowledged as the 52nd Global Geopark under the auspices of UNESCO's Global Geoparks Network. The geopark gave emphasis to local community involvement in conservation efforts [40] and LADA Geopark Division plays an important role to promote the involvement of local communities in environment conservation. Several awareness projects were designed in collaboration with villagers, students, and other NGOs. For example, activity *Gotong-royong* was held to overcome soil erosion and to stop the habit of littering the rivers. Respondent 5 said that '*We also try to organise Geo-tours or educational based talks to explain the importance of sustainable socioeconomic development and increase apprecia‐ tion of our geological heritage resources*.' Initiatives for the integration of green practices into business management are able to maintain profitability while encouraging communities to be committed in environmental conservation.

One of the strategies implemented by the government relate to the 3R (recycle, reuse, reduce) practices that were designed to encourage local communities to produce handicrafts made from recycled materials, '*LADA will then help them to repackage and promote the handicrafts'* (respondent 6). The stakeholders' interviews also revealed that respondents from the private sector such as Langkawi Orchid Farm, the Frangipani Langkawi Resort and Spa, and the UWL are all environmentally responsible companies. These companies practice management imbued with the principles of responsible tourism, with due consideration to their workers, customers, and local communities. Furthermore, the farm owner (respondent 15), resort operator (respondent 16), and manager of UWL (respondent 17), were serious in wanting to raise awareness about issues linked to environment and climate change. For example, '*we make efforts to reduce water, energy usage, recycle waste and planting organic food, and we want our staffs to remember the principles of reuse, reduce and recycle*,*'* said respondent 16 from the Frangipani resort.

According to respondent 12, conservation and sustainable tourism need to be prioritised by the government because '*Langkawi is supposed to be a nature-based island with full of greenery and beaches, not just luxury resorts and hotels.*' One of the members from *Koperasi Komuniti Kampung Kilim* (respondent 13) raised his concern on the environment conservation in order to ensure sustainability for the sake of future generation, noting that '*we realize that everyone needs to manage the place for the betterment of our community and bearing in mind that natural resources is our treasure, not just for Langkawi people, but all Malaysian*'. In short, local residents need to be educated in order to be aware of the fragility of natural resources and to be more responsive to environmental issues.
