This study was conducted to investigate the villagers' willingness to work (WTW) or willingness to pay (WTP) to promote community-based marine protected areas (MPAs) as a way of ensuring sustainability of coastal conservation initiatives. Results confirmed that in general, local residents are willing to voluntarily provide labor or money to help in patrolling and monitoring to maintain the ecological balance of the coastal and marine resources. The quantitative values and the determining factors that influence the WTW and WTP derived from this study can provide insights to resource managers and policy makers in coastal resource management.