Gladman Thondhlana

Associate Professor of Environmental Science, Rhodes University
Gladman Thondhlana is an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Science at Rhodes University in South Africa, where he teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

He completed his PhD in environmental science in 2011 at Rhodes University.

He was previously a PhD fellow in the Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric), at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. His work centres broadly on society and conservation. He has a particular interest in the links between wild natural resource access, use and household welfare, governance of protected landscapes, conservation conflicts and urban sustainability. In his work on urban sustainability, he has focused on questions of energy use behaviour and waste management.

His work is guided by efforts aimed at addressing inequality, marginalisation and social injustice within the context of sustainable natural resource management. Glad’s research and practice has been supported by the National Research Foundation (South Africa), Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa (South Africa), Economic Research Southern Africa (South Africa), International Foundation for Science (Sweden), the Social Science Research Council (USA), the Centre for International Governance Innovation (Canada) and International Science Council (France).

Associate Professor Thondhlana is an avid educator and a Teaching Advancements in Universities (TAU) fellow. He is a recipient of the Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award (2016) and Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award (2019).

Recent Publications

Ngalo, N. & Thondhlana, G. 2023. Illegal solid-waste dumping in a low-income neighbourhood in South Africa: Prevalence and perceptions. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(18). doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20186750

Thondhlana, G., Amaka-Otchere, A.B.K. & Ruwanza, S. 2023. Encouraging household energy conservation through transdisciplinary approaches in Ghana and South Africa: Assumptions, challenges, and guidelines. International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development, 15(1): 201-214. doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2023.2223531

Yose, P., Thondhlana, G., & Fraser, G. 2023. Conceptualizing the socio-cultural impacts of marine plastic pollution on human well-being: A perspective. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 194. doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115285

Mutumbi, U., Thondhlana, G. & Ruwanza, S. 2022. Co-designed interventions yield significant electricity savings among low-income households in Makhanda, South Africa. Energies, 15, 2320. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15072320

Thondhlana, G., Yose, P., Cockburn, J. & Shackleton, C. 2022. Livestock ecosystem services and disservices in a medium-sized South African town. Ecosystems & People, 18(1): 31-43.

Ruwanza, S. & Thondhlana, G. 2022. People's perceptions and uses of invasive plant Psidium guajava in Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, Limpopo province of South Africa. Ecosystems & People, 18(1): 64-75.

Ruwanza, S., Thondhlana, G. & Falayi, M. 2022. Research progress and conceptual insights on drought impacts and responses among smallholder farmers in South Africa: a review. Land, 11, 159.

Williams, S.P., Thondhlana, G. & Wei Kua, H. 2021. Behavioural interventions yield electricity savings among high-income households in Johannesburg, South Africa. Engery & Environment, 1-16.

Mutumbi, U., Thondhlana, G. & Ruwanza, S. 2021. The distribution of selected woody invasive alien species in small towns in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Southern African Journal of Botany, 141: 290-295.

Pullanikkatil, D., Thondhlana, G. & Shackleton, C.M. 2021. The cultural significance of plant-fibre crafts in southern Africa: A comparative study of Eswatini, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Forests, Trees & Livelihoods, DOI: 10.1080/14728028.2021.1998797.

Thondhlana, G., Mubaya, C.P., McClure, A., Amaka-Otchere, A.B.K. & Ruwanza, S. 2021. Facilitating urban sustainability through transdisciplinary (TD) research: Lessons from Ghana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Sustainability, 13, 6205.

Pamla, A., Thondhlana, G. & Ruwanza, S. 2021. Persistent droughts and water scarcity: Households' perceptions and practices in Makhanda, South Africa. Land, 10, 593.

Belluigi, D.Z. & Thondhlana, G. 2020. Your skin has to be elastic: The politics of belonging as a selected black academic at a ‘transforming’ South African university. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2020.1783469

Cockburn, J., M. Schoon, G. Cundill, C. Robinson, J. A. Aburto, S. M. Alexander, J. A. Baggio, C. Barnaud, M. Chapman, M. Garcia Llorente, G. A. García-López, R. Hill, C. Ifejika Speranza, J. Lee, C. L. Meek, E. Rosenberg, L. Schultz & Thondhlana, G. 2020. Understanding the context of multifaceted collaborations for social-ecological sustainability: A methodology for cross-case analysis. Ecology and Society, 25 (3): 7 https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol25/iss3/art7/

Du-Point, T., Vilakazi, M., Thondhlana, G. & Vedeld, P. 2020. Livestock income and household welfare for communities adjacent to the Great Fish River Nature Reserve, South Africa. Environmental Development, 33: 100508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2020.100508

Thondhlana, G., Redpath, S., Vedeld, P., van Eeden, L., Pascual, U., Sherren, K. & Murata, C. 2020. Non-material costs of wildlife conservation to local communities and implications for conservation interventions. Biological Conservation, 246: 108578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108578

Thondhlana, G., Shackleton, C & Pullanikkatil, D. 2020. Plant fibre-products production, trade and income in Eswatini, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Forests, 11, 832. https://doi:10.3390/f11080832

Williams, S.P., Thondhlana, G. & Kua, H.W. 2020. Electricity use behaviour in a high-income neighbourhood in Johannesburg, South Africa. Sustainability, 12, 4571. https://doi:10.3390/su12114571

O’Brien, J. & Thondhlana, G. 2019. Plastic bag use in South Africa: Perceptions, practices and potential intervention strategies. Waste Management, 84: 320.328.

Olagunju, A., Thondhlana, G., Chilima, J.S., Sene-Harper, A., Compaore, W.R. & Ohiozebau, E. 2019. Water governance research in Africa: progress, challenges and an agenda for research and action. Water International, doi.org/10.1080/02508060.2019.1594576.

Books and Book chapters

Linnell, J.D.C., Thondhlana, G. & Simon Hedges 2023. Assessing the impacts of conflicts. IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife confl­ict and coexistence (First Edition). Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.

McQuinn, B., Zimmermann, A., Stevens, J. & Thondhlana, G. 2023. Dialogue: a process for conflict resolution. IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife confl­ict and coexistence (First Edition). Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.

Roe, D., Thondhlana, G., Hill, C. & Roy, S. 2023. Livelihoods, poverty and well-being. IUCN SSC guidelines on human-wildlife confl­ict and coexistence (First Edition). Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.