This paper looks at the development of an ecotrekking industry on the Kokoda Track and demonstrates how the use of participatory methods in community based tourism can align two different “regimes of truth” (that of the community and of the tourism industry) to establish some compatibility. Here, trekking operators have entered into the world of local communities bringing with them new concepts such as the business of international tourism and the cash-economy. This paper explores how the decision-making capacity of these communities can be enhanced using tools that reinforce the social organisation of the community.