Contact Details:

• E-mail: nanamhla.gwedla@ru.ac.za

Nanamhla, a lecturer in Environmental Science, is an urban ecologist specialising in urban forestry and vegetation distribution and use in urban gardens. In 2023 she completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Unit for Environmental Science and Management (Botany) at North-West University, Potchefstroom. Her research focused on plant distribution in health clinic gardens, and knowledge up-scaling and harnessing indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) for the cultivation and use of native plants in home and health clinic gardens in the North-West province.

She has a Master of Science majoring in Environmental Science and obtained a PhD in Environmental Science at Rhodes University in 2020. Although unplanned, her academic research journey has taken a progression approach from understanding municipal parks’ managers’ perceptions and development visions for their towns and municipalities, to urban street tree distribution and urban residents’ perceptions in relation to these distributions. Key findings from these phases of her research informed her PhD inquiry which investigated barriers and enablers of urban tree planting in low-cost housing areas (colloquially known as RDP suburbs) from a participatory learning lens. Through this work, Nanamhla has had the invaluable opportunity to work and engage with representatives from local and national governments, non-profit organizations, as well as some of the most vulnerable communities in the Eastern Cape province.

She is hoping to expand her research on urban trees and urban gardens through a focus on nature for well-being with an eye on predominantly poor neighbourhoods, as well as expanding the research on health clinic gardens to the Eastern Cape from a development perspective.

Publications

Gwedla, N., Muller, M., Cilliers, S.S., Niesing, C., Bester, P., Du Toit, M.J. (2024). Exploring the value of ecosystem services at health clinic gardens in a South African context. Urban Ecosystems. DOI: 10.1007/s11252-024-01529-x.

Gwedla, N., Shackleton, C.M., Olvitt, L. (2024). Comparing perceptions of barriers to tree planting in domestic and public spaces of low-income neighbourhoods in small to medium-sized South African towns. Cities, 147, 104776. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104776

Gwedla, N., Cornelius, S.F.A., Du Toit, M.J., Cilliers, S.S. (2022). Stakeholder Perceptions of the Ecosystem Services of Health Clinic Gardens in Settlements and Small-to Medium-Sized Cities in the North-West Province, South Africa. Land, 11 (11), 1904. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11111904

Gwedla, N., Shackleton, C.M., Olvitt, L. (2022). Trees stocks in domestic gardens and willingness to participate in tree planting initiatives in low-cost housing areas of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 68, 127484. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127484

Shackleton, C.M., Gwedla, N., Davoren, E. (2022). “The legacy of colonial and apartheid eras on the distribution, composition and representation of street trees in South Africa”. In: Woudstra, J., Allen, C. (Eds.). The Politics of Street Trees. Routledge Publishers, London. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003054672

Mabusela, A., Shackleton, C.M., Gwedla, N. (2021). The distribution of selected woody invasive alien species in small towns in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. South African Journal of Botany, 141, 290-295. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sajb.2021.05.019

Shackleton, C.M., Gwedla, N. (2021). The Legacy Effects of Colonial and Apartheid Imprints on Urban Greening in South Africa: Spaces, Species, and Suitability. Frontiers in Ecology & Evolution, 8, 467. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.579813

Gwedla, N., Shackleton, C.M. (2019). Perceptions and preferences for urban trees across multiple socio-economic contexts in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Landscape & Urban Planning, 189, 225-234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2019.05.001

Gwedla, N., Shackleton, C.M. (2017). Population size and development history determine street tree distribution and composition within and between Eastern Cape towns, South Africa. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening 25, 11-18.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.04.014

Gwedla, N., Shackleton, C.M. (2015). The development visions and attitudes towards urban forestry of officials responsible for greening in South African towns. Land Use Policy, 42, 17-26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2014.07.004

Last Modified: Mon, 26 Feb 2024 10:08:43 SAST