Amanda Stronza
Biographic Data
| ID | 652209 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Amanda Stronza |
| GIVEN NAMES | Amanda |
| FAMILY NAME | Stronza |
| SIGNATURE | STRONZA A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Texas A&M University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8426-2854 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 22 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 193 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 22 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2001 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Botho: A cultural framework for resilient human–wildlife coexistence in Botswana
Botho is a foundational philosophy in Sub-Saharan Africa that emphasizes interdependence, respect, and shared humanity. While it has traditionally shaped human–wildlife relationships, its present contribution to coexistence with large carnivores remains underexplored. This paper examines how Botho is a part of local decision-making in cattle farming communities of the Kalahari region of Botswana and how it shapes their choices in tolerating and c…
A mixed‐methods assessment of human‐elephant conflict in the Western Okavango Panhandle, Botswana
Human‐wildlife conflict, where interactions have negative impacts on both people and animals, is complex with underlying drivers and broad ecological and social impacts. From individual incidents and perceptions, to contemporary patterns and long‐term trends, a range of information about human‐wildlife conflict can help understand and manage challenges. However, many studies focus on a single data type or spatiotemporal scale. In the Western Okav…
The Village, the Elephant, and the State: Land Access and Vulnerability in Rural Botswana
Throughout the world, people resettle to reduce vulnerability to potentially dangerous wildlife, including elephants. In turn, they may become subject to development policies and practices that can either exacerbate or alleviate their vulnerability. Our ethnographic study in the Okavango Delta of Botswana, where 18,000 elephants share territory with 16,000 people, examines how resettlement decisions and settlement policies impacted vulnerability …
Understanding farmers' reasons behind mitigation decisions is key in supporting their coexistence with wildlife
Coexistence between wildlife and farmers can be challenging and can endanger the lives of both, prompting the provisioning of mitigation methods by governments and non‐governmental organizations (NGOs). However, provision of materials, demonstration of the effectiveness of methods or willingness to uptake a method do not predict uptake of methods. We used ethnographic decision models to understand how farmers' work through the decisions of uptake…
Hunting as a Source of Local and Traditional Ecological Knowledge among Campesinos in Nicaragua
Experts and elephants: Local Ecological Knowledge Predicts Landscape Use for a Species Involved in Human-Wildlife Conflict
Buchholtz, E. K., L. Fitzgerald, A. Songhurst, G. P. McCulloch, and A. L. Stronza. 2020. Experts and elephants: local ecological knowledge predicts landscape use for a species involved in human-wildlife conflict. Ecology and Society 25(4):26. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11979-250426
Where elephants roam: Perceived risk, vulnerability, and adaptation in the Okavango Delta
Redmore, L., A. L. Stronza, A. Songhurst, and G. McCulloch. 2020. Where elephants roam: perceived risk, vulnerability, and adaptation in the Okavango Delta. Ecology and Society 25(4):27. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-12001-250427
Ecotourism for Conservation
Ecotourism originated in the 1980s, at the dawn of sustainable development, as a way to channel tourism revenues into conservation and development. Despite the “win-win” idea, scholars and practitioners debate the meaning and merits of ecotourism. We conducted a review of 30 years of ecotourism research, looking for empirical evidence of successes and failures. We found the following trends: Ecotourism is often conflated with outdoor recreation a…
Visions of Tourism: From Modernization to Sustainability
We live in an era where the heavy-weights of the tourism industry tout sustainability. Even Hilton, a name practically synonymous with mass tourism, promises to "lead the industry with products and programs" that not only "deliver great guest experiences," but also "protect the world we live in." Holland America Cruises publishes an annual "sustainability report," which includes not only the number of passengers abroad and nautical miles traveled…
Missing the Forest for the Trees: Incongruous Local Perspectives on Ecotourism in Nicaragua Converge on Ethical Issues
Recent writings on ethics in tourism do little to represent local hosts' perceptions of the ethical nature of tourism and instead focus primarily on the role of industry and tour operators. In this paper, we bring local perceptions to the fore in comparing the ideal and the real in ecotourism. Using ethnographic observations and interviews, we describe how local residents near an ecotourism lodge along the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua first perceiv…
South-South exchanges enhance resource management and biodiversity conservation at various scales
International conservation organisations have invested considerable resources in fostering biodiversity conservation programs in the humid tropics, the most biologically diverse areas on earth. Recent approaches to conservation have centered on integrated conservation and development projects and participatory resource management programs, co-managed between governments and local communities. But these programs have had only mixed success and oft…
From Collaboration to Conservation: Insights From the Okavango Delta, Botswana
This article summarizes 10 years of ethnographic research in the Okavango Delta and describes how local communities are collaborating with government, tour operators, and conservationists to manage wildlife through the Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) program. CBNRM channels social and economic benefits to communities in exchange for their participation in wildlife conservation. Benefits include secured access to land, institut…
Negotiating Identity: Experiences of "Visiting Home" Among Chinese Americans
"Roots tourism" is loosely defined as a type of tourism in which ethnic minorities visit their ancestral lands to discover ethnic roots and culture. Despite the recent popularity of this type of tourism, many gaps remain in the study of roots tourism, particularly about its influence on the tourists' identity. This exploratory study investigates the ways in which second and subsequent generations of Chinese Americans discuss their identity and fe…
Ecotourism and sea turtle harvesting in a fishing village of Bahia, Brazil
promote it as a win-win strategy for protecting sea turtles while also meeting people's needs. Ecotourism builds on two decades of efforts to create market incentives for wildlife conservation
Collaboration theory and tourism practice in protected areas: Stakeholders, structuring and sustainability
A growing body of research is emerging on tourism and partnerships in protected areas, but conceptual development remains fragmented. This paper tackles this challenge by focusing on three aspects important for sustainability: (1) complexity (nested systems of biophysical environments, tourism and park management structures, community–resident systems, local–global systems and use–conservation gap; (2) scale, structure and scope of collaborations…
Commons management and ecotourism: Ethnographic evidence from the Amazon
The paper evaluates the relationship between ecotourism and commons management. Social and economic impacts of ecotourism in an indigenous village in the Peruvian Amazon are considered in relation to opportunities for collective action to manage common pool resources, including wildlife, forests, and river habitats. Longitudinal, ethnographic data gathered over 12 years about a joint venture ecotourism project between a private company and a loca…
Through a New Mirror: Reflections on Tourism and Identity in the Amazon
Interactions between locals and tourists entail more than simple transactions of money for goods or services. They also involve the exchange of expectations, stereotypes, and expressions of ethnicity and culture. In this study, an ecotourism lodge in Peru was the setting for an ethnographic analysis of tourists' expectant gazes and locals' reactions to them. Interview data and observations reveal that over several years, locals began to alter the…
Ecotourism and Conservation: Two Cases from Brazil and Peru
This article evaluates two theories to explain the relationship between ecotourism and conservation. One posits that economic benefits must accrue to local communities for ecotourism to result in conservation; the other holds that social benefits, including participation in management, must also be present. Although these ideas about causal mechanisms are not mutually exclusive, scholarly studies tend to reflect one more than the other. Two ecoto…
Dwelling' with ecotourism in the Peruvian Amazon: Cultural relationships in local—global spaces
This article argues for a perspective to ecotourism development that is not determined solely by academics, capitalistic markets, conservationists or NGOs, but also by locally defined and culturally embedded relations and meanings. We start with a theoretical critique of ecotourism development and conservation at the intersection of the macro-global and micro-local levels. Insights from the existential philosopher, Martin Heidegger (1889—1976) he…
Community views of ecotourism
Hosts and Hosts: The Anthropology of Community-based Ecotourism in the Peruvian Amazon
For environmental anthropologists, ecotourism is an especially timely and practical topic. Increasingly, anthropologists are talking with conservationists, development specialists, tour operators, policy-makers, and local leaders about ecotourism and its impacts on local communities and ecosystems. This is good, as anthropologists are especially well suited to focus ethnographic attention on the general but critical question of what happens when …
Anthropology of Tourism: Forging New Ground for Ecotourism and Other Alternatives
Tourism is relevant to many theoretical and real-world issues in anthropology. The major themes anthropologists have covered in the study of tourism may be divided conceptually into two halves: One half seeks to understand the origins of tourism, and the other reveals tourism's impacts. Even when taken together, these two approaches seem to produce only a partial analysis of tourism. The problem is that most studies aimed at understanding the ori…
Anthropology of Tourism: Forging New Ground for Ecotourism and Other Alternatives
Tourism is relevant to many theoretical and real-world issues in anthropology. The major themes anthropologists have covered in the study of tourism may be divided conceptually into two halves: One half seeks to understand the origins of tourism, and the other reveals tourism's impacts. Even when taken together, these two approaches seem to produce only a partial analysis of tourism. The problem is that most studies aimed at understanding the ori…
Community views of ecotourism
Commons management and ecotourism: Ethnographic evidence from the Amazon
The paper evaluates the relationship between ecotourism and commons management. Social and economic impacts of ecotourism in an indigenous village in the Peruvian Amazon are considered in relation to opportunities for collective action to manage common pool resources, including wildlife, forests, and river habitats. Longitudinal, ethnographic data gathered over 12 years about a joint venture ecotourism project between a private company and a loca…
Hosts and Hosts: The Anthropology of Community-based Ecotourism in the Peruvian Amazon
For environmental anthropologists, ecotourism is an especially timely and practical topic. Increasingly, anthropologists are talking with conservationists, development specialists, tour operators, policy-makers, and local leaders about ecotourism and its impacts on local communities and ecosystems. This is good, as anthropologists are especially well suited to focus ethnographic attention on the general but critical question of what happens when …
Dwelling' with ecotourism in the Peruvian Amazon: Cultural relationships in local—global spaces
This article argues for a perspective to ecotourism development that is not determined solely by academics, capitalistic markets, conservationists or NGOs, but also by locally defined and culturally embedded relations and meanings. We start with a theoretical critique of ecotourism development and conservation at the intersection of the macro-global and micro-local levels. Insights from the existential philosopher, Martin Heidegger (1889—1976) he…
Experts and elephants: Local Ecological Knowledge Predicts Landscape Use for a Species Involved in Human-Wildlife Conflict
Buchholtz, E. K., L. Fitzgerald, A. Songhurst, G. P. McCulloch, and A. L. Stronza. 2020. Experts and elephants: local ecological knowledge predicts landscape use for a species involved in human-wildlife conflict. Ecology and Society 25(4):26. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11979-250426
From Collaboration to Conservation: Insights From the Okavango Delta, Botswana
This article summarizes 10 years of ethnographic research in the Okavango Delta and describes how local communities are collaborating with government, tour operators, and conservationists to manage wildlife through the Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) program. CBNRM channels social and economic benefits to communities in exchange for their participation in wildlife conservation. Benefits include secured access to land, institut…
Botho: A cultural framework for resilient human–wildlife coexistence in Botswana
Botho is a foundational philosophy in Sub-Saharan Africa that emphasizes interdependence, respect, and shared humanity. While it has traditionally shaped human–wildlife relationships, its present contribution to coexistence with large carnivores remains underexplored. This paper examines how Botho is a part of local decision-making in cattle farming communities of the Kalahari region of Botswana and how it shapes their choices in tolerating and c…
Where elephants roam: Perceived risk, vulnerability, and adaptation in the Okavango Delta
Redmore, L., A. L. Stronza, A. Songhurst, and G. McCulloch. 2020. Where elephants roam: perceived risk, vulnerability, and adaptation in the Okavango Delta. Ecology and Society 25(4):27. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-12001-250427
Anthropology of Tourism: Forging New Ground for Ecotourism and Other Alternatives
Tourism is relevant to many theoretical and real-world issues in anthropology. The major themes anthropologists have covered in the study of tourism may be divided conceptually into two halves: One half seeks to understand the origins of tourism, and the other reveals tourism's impacts. Even when taken together, these two approaches seem to produce only a partial analysis of tourism. The problem is that most studies aimed at understanding the ori…
Hosts and Hosts: The Anthropology of Community-based Ecotourism in the Peruvian Amazon
For environmental anthropologists, ecotourism is an especially timely and practical topic. Increasingly, anthropologists are talking with conservationists, development specialists, tour operators, policy-makers, and local leaders about ecotourism and its impacts on local communities and ecosystems. This is good, as anthropologists are especially well suited to focus ethnographic attention on the general but critical question of what happens when …
Through a New Mirror: Reflections on Tourism and Identity in the Amazon
Interactions between locals and tourists entail more than simple transactions of money for goods or services. They also involve the exchange of expectations, stereotypes, and expressions of ethnicity and culture. In this study, an ecotourism lodge in Peru was the setting for an ethnographic analysis of tourists' expectant gazes and locals' reactions to them. Interview data and observations reveal that over several years, locals began to alter the…
Ecotourism and Conservation: Two Cases from Brazil and Peru
This article evaluates two theories to explain the relationship between ecotourism and conservation. One posits that economic benefits must accrue to local communities for ecotourism to result in conservation; the other holds that social benefits, including participation in management, must also be present. Although these ideas about causal mechanisms are not mutually exclusive, scholarly studies tend to reflect one more than the other. Two ecoto…
Dwelling' with ecotourism in the Peruvian Amazon: Cultural relationships in local—global spaces
This article argues for a perspective to ecotourism development that is not determined solely by academics, capitalistic markets, conservationists or NGOs, but also by locally defined and culturally embedded relations and meanings. We start with a theoretical critique of ecotourism development and conservation at the intersection of the macro-global and micro-local levels. Insights from the existential philosopher, Martin Heidegger (1889—1976) he…
Community views of ecotourism
Collaboration theory and tourism practice in protected areas: Stakeholders, structuring and sustainability
A growing body of research is emerging on tourism and partnerships in protected areas, but conceptual development remains fragmented. This paper tackles this challenge by focusing on three aspects important for sustainability: (1) complexity (nested systems of biophysical environments, tourism and park management structures, community–resident systems, local–global systems and use–conservation gap; (2) scale, structure and scope of collaborations…
Commons management and ecotourism: Ethnographic evidence from the Amazon
The paper evaluates the relationship between ecotourism and commons management. Social and economic impacts of ecotourism in an indigenous village in the Peruvian Amazon are considered in relation to opportunities for collective action to manage common pool resources, including wildlife, forests, and river habitats. Longitudinal, ethnographic data gathered over 12 years about a joint venture ecotourism project between a private company and a loca…
Negotiating Identity: Experiences of "Visiting Home" Among Chinese Americans
"Roots tourism" is loosely defined as a type of tourism in which ethnic minorities visit their ancestral lands to discover ethnic roots and culture. Despite the recent popularity of this type of tourism, many gaps remain in the study of roots tourism, particularly about its influence on the tourists' identity. This exploratory study investigates the ways in which second and subsequent generations of Chinese Americans discuss their identity and fe…
Ecotourism and sea turtle harvesting in a fishing village of Bahia, Brazil
promote it as a win-win strategy for protecting sea turtles while also meeting people's needs. Ecotourism builds on two decades of efforts to create market incentives for wildlife conservation
Missing the Forest for the Trees: Incongruous Local Perspectives on Ecotourism in Nicaragua Converge on Ethical Issues
Recent writings on ethics in tourism do little to represent local hosts' perceptions of the ethical nature of tourism and instead focus primarily on the role of industry and tour operators. In this paper, we bring local perceptions to the fore in comparing the ideal and the real in ecotourism. Using ethnographic observations and interviews, we describe how local residents near an ecotourism lodge along the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua first perceiv…
South-South exchanges enhance resource management and biodiversity conservation at various scales
International conservation organisations have invested considerable resources in fostering biodiversity conservation programs in the humid tropics, the most biologically diverse areas on earth. Recent approaches to conservation have centered on integrated conservation and development projects and participatory resource management programs, co-managed between governments and local communities. But these programs have had only mixed success and oft…
From Collaboration to Conservation: Insights From the Okavango Delta, Botswana
This article summarizes 10 years of ethnographic research in the Okavango Delta and describes how local communities are collaborating with government, tour operators, and conservationists to manage wildlife through the Community-Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) program. CBNRM channels social and economic benefits to communities in exchange for their participation in wildlife conservation. Benefits include secured access to land, institut…
Visions of Tourism: From Modernization to Sustainability
We live in an era where the heavy-weights of the tourism industry tout sustainability. Even Hilton, a name practically synonymous with mass tourism, promises to "lead the industry with products and programs" that not only "deliver great guest experiences," but also "protect the world we live in." Holland America Cruises publishes an annual "sustainability report," which includes not only the number of passengers abroad and nautical miles traveled…
Ecotourism for Conservation
Ecotourism originated in the 1980s, at the dawn of sustainable development, as a way to channel tourism revenues into conservation and development. Despite the “win-win” idea, scholars and practitioners debate the meaning and merits of ecotourism. We conducted a review of 30 years of ecotourism research, looking for empirical evidence of successes and failures. We found the following trends: Ecotourism is often conflated with outdoor recreation a…
Experts and elephants: Local Ecological Knowledge Predicts Landscape Use for a Species Involved in Human-Wildlife Conflict
Buchholtz, E. K., L. Fitzgerald, A. Songhurst, G. P. McCulloch, and A. L. Stronza. 2020. Experts and elephants: local ecological knowledge predicts landscape use for a species involved in human-wildlife conflict. Ecology and Society 25(4):26. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11979-250426
Where elephants roam: Perceived risk, vulnerability, and adaptation in the Okavango Delta
Redmore, L., A. L. Stronza, A. Songhurst, and G. McCulloch. 2020. Where elephants roam: perceived risk, vulnerability, and adaptation in the Okavango Delta. Ecology and Society 25(4):27. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-12001-250427
Hunting as a Source of Local and Traditional Ecological Knowledge among Campesinos in Nicaragua
Understanding farmers' reasons behind mitigation decisions is key in supporting their coexistence with wildlife
Coexistence between wildlife and farmers can be challenging and can endanger the lives of both, prompting the provisioning of mitigation methods by governments and non‐governmental organizations (NGOs). However, provision of materials, demonstration of the effectiveness of methods or willingness to uptake a method do not predict uptake of methods. We used ethnographic decision models to understand how farmers' work through the decisions of uptake…
A mixed‐methods assessment of human‐elephant conflict in the Western Okavango Panhandle, Botswana
Human‐wildlife conflict, where interactions have negative impacts on both people and animals, is complex with underlying drivers and broad ecological and social impacts. From individual incidents and perceptions, to contemporary patterns and long‐term trends, a range of information about human‐wildlife conflict can help understand and manage challenges. However, many studies focus on a single data type or spatiotemporal scale. In the Western Okav…
The Village, the Elephant, and the State: Land Access and Vulnerability in Rural Botswana
Throughout the world, people resettle to reduce vulnerability to potentially dangerous wildlife, including elephants. In turn, they may become subject to development policies and practices that can either exacerbate or alleviate their vulnerability. Our ethnographic study in the Okavango Delta of Botswana, where 18,000 elephants share territory with 16,000 people, examines how resettlement decisions and settlement policies impacted vulnerability …
Botho: A cultural framework for resilient human–wildlife coexistence in Botswana
Botho is a foundational philosophy in Sub-Saharan Africa that emphasizes interdependence, respect, and shared humanity. While it has traditionally shaped human–wildlife relationships, its present contribution to coexistence with large carnivores remains underexplored. This paper examines how Botho is a part of local decision-making in cattle farming communities of the Kalahari region of Botswana and how it shapes their choices in tolerating and c…
Geography (18 works) · Political science (16 works) · Environmental resource management (14 works) · Tourism (14 works) · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management (13 works) · Ecology (13 works) · Economics (13 works) · Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research (12 works) · Sociology (11 works) · Ecotourism (10 works)