C M Shackleton

Biographic Data

ID	30654
NAME	C M Shackleton
GIVEN NAMES	C M
FAMILY NAME	Shackleton
SIGNATURE	SHACKLETON C M
AFFILIATIONS	Rhodes University
ORCID	0000-0002-8489-6136
VERIFIED	Yes
TOTAL WORKS	87
TOTAL CITATIONS	454
AUTHOR COUNT	87
EDITOR COUNT	0
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR	1992
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR	2026
H-INDEX	11

Xhosa Sticks as Cultural, Nontimber Forest Products in the Eastern Cape, South Africa
Open AccessMonde Ntshudu, C M ShackletonARTICLEJournal of Ethnobiology2026
Nontimber forest products are used for a wide variety of purposes, including household consumption, income, and culture. However, the cultural dimensions and significance are considerably understudied. This article reports on a study of the cultural significance of two types of sticks ( induku and umnqayi ) carried by males of the Xhosa ethnic group in South Africa. Each of the sticks is made or given to males who have just been through initiatio…
Global trends in urban forest irrigation: Environmental influences, challenges and opportunities for sustainable practices across 109 cities worldwide
Open AccessManuel Esperón‐Rodríguez, Rachael V Gallagher et al.ARTICLESustainable Cities and Society2025
Urban forests are critical for climate adaptation and liveability, but effective irrigation management—key to their sustainability—remains poorly documented at the global scale. This study addresses this critical knowledge gap by analysing urban forest irrigation practices across 109 cities in 21 countries, offering one of the first global assessments of irrigation approaches, challenges, and opportunities. Using survey data, we examined water so…
Homestead hedges as potential sources of alien invasive and poisonous plants in rural and urban communities, South Africa
Open AccessL Sifanele, C M ShackletonARTICLEEcosystems and People2025
Hedges provide multiple benefits to rural and urban communities globally, such as property boundaries, aesthetics and safety. However, few studies have assessed the prevalence of hedges at a household level, which is vital for quantifying the benefits and ecosystem disservices of hedges. Two ecosystem disservices of interest were the potential negative impacts resulting from invasive alien species (IAS) as well as poisonous species. This study as…
Complex and interacting drivers of arable field abandonment in villages of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Open AccessSihle Pokwana, C M Shackleton et al.ARTICLELand Use Policy2025Cited by: 1References: 40
Significant areas of agricultural land have been abandoned globally since the 20th century. Although extensive research exists on the drivers of agricultural land abandonment, patterns vary across regions, necessitating site-specific studies to assist in the detection of broader-scale patterns. This paper evaluates how socio-economic and environmental factors influenced decisions of small-scale farmers to abandon field cultivation in four village…
Spatial synergies for urban foraging: A South African example
Open AccessMallika Sardeshpande, C M Shackleton et al.ARTICLEAMBIO2025References: 121
Urban foraging for wild plant and animal products is increasingly recognised for its multiple benefits for people and nature stewardship. Planning for foraging in urban greenspace is one way that foraging can be made more accessible, beneficial, and equitable. Here, we explore how foraging could be recognised and provided for in urban municipalities in eastern South Africa. We synthesise forager and land manager interviews, policy analysis, and i…
Upholding Ethical Accountability in Ethnobotany and Ethnobiology Research
Open AccessIna Vandebroek, J R Stepp et al.ARTICLEEconomic Botany2025Cited by: 6References: 19
Street tree abundance, composition, and (mal)distribution in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria
Open AccessOpeyemi Adeyemi, C M ShackletonARTICLETrees Forests and People2024
Street trees provide critical ecosystem services and economic benefits that support urban livelihoods. To effectively manage street trees over the long term and maximise their benefits, information on their abundance, composition, and distribution is needed. Unfortunately, a lack of data is prevalent in most cities, particularly those in the developing countries. To address this, species, basal diameter, height, and location of 4,017 street trees…
Low knowledge of national biodiversity symbols among urban South Africans limits their potential value as conservation flagship species
Open AccessOndwela Tshikombeni, C M Shackleton et al.ARTICLEPeople and Nature2024
Most countries have declared one or more animal or plant species to be among their national symbols, termed here national biodiversity symbols. National biodiversity symbols are the species formally or informally recognised by societies and countries as having meaning to one or more of national identity, values and unity. It has been proposed previously that national biodiversity symbols can be used as flagship species to advance habitat conserva…
Urban residents' knowledge of and attitudes and willingness to control woody invasive alien plants in their domestic gardens in South Africa
Open AccessT Seboko, Tshepiso Collen Seboko et al.ARTICLEPeople and Nature2024
Invasive alien species are considered a major contributor to biodiversity loss. Yet, many are favoured for particular ecosystem services that they provide. This is often so in urban environments experiencing rapid environmental and social change and land transformation. Public support is viewed as critical for invasive alien species prevention and management. Furthermore, it is assumed that local citizens are more likely to be willing and ready t…
Why are non-wood forest products still the poor relative in Global Forest Resources Assessments
Open AccessC M Shackleton, Olusegun Raphael Adeyemi et al.ARTICLEForest Policy and Economics2024References: 12
To conserve and use forests sustainably, it is helpful to have accurate and regular assessments of their health and status. A key tool in this regard is the regular global overview provided by the Food and Agriculture Programme (FAO) in their Global Forest Resources Assessments (GFRA), now issued every five years. As of 2000, the GFRA required member countries to report statistics related to non-wood forest products (NWFPs). However, the NWFP sta…
Comparing perceptions of barriers to tree planting in domestic and public spaces of low-income neighbourhoods in small to medium-sized South African towns
Open AccessNanamhla Gwedla, C M Shackleton et al.ARTICLECities2024References: 53
Neighbourhood greenness is one of the indicators for residential satisfaction in urban areas. However, residents in low-income urban communities often express dissatisfaction with their neighbourhoods because of limited urban green infrastructure (UGI) and trees in comparison to relatively affluent neighbourhoods. Low-income neighbourhoods in South Africa, known as low-cost housing areas (LCHAs) face a myriad of systemic and institutional dynamic…
Embedding opportunities for poverty alleviation in urban green infrastructure design and management using South Africa as a case example
Open AccessC M Shackleton, Peta Brom et al.ARTICLECities2024References: 84
The provision and management of urban green infrastructure (UGI) provides multiple benefits to the wellbeing of urban residents. A crucial, yet underexplored benefit, is the role that UGI can play in poverty alleviation. Acknowledging this role raises questions as to how UGI design and management can better provide opportunities for poverty alleviation and how it varies across UGI types and contexts. We consider this, using South Africa as an exa…
Identifying opportunities and constraints to effective management of invasive Australian wattle (Acacia) species in grassland landscapes, South Africa
Open AccessThozamile Yapi, Thozamile Steve Yapi et al.ARTICLEConservation Ecology2024
Land users’ motives for participating in conservation and restoration activities are influenced by the local and broader scale contexts and are often determined by their perceptions of the current situation. Therefore, understanding land users’ views is essential for gaining insights into the opportunities and constraints for ecosystem restoration. In this study, we sought to understand land users’ perceptions of alien wattle (Acacia spp.) cleari…
The Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society: An emergent community of practice
Open AccessReinette Biggs, Belinda Reyers et al.ARTICLEEcosystems and People2023
Sustainability-focused research networks and communities of practice have emerged as a key response and strategy to build capacity and knowledge to support transformation towards more sustainable, just and equitable futures. This paper synthesises insights from the development of a community of practice on social-ecological systems (SES) research in southern Africa over the past decade, linked to the international Programme on Ecosystem Change an…
Local peoples’ knowledge and perceptions of Australian wattle ( Acacia ) species invasion, ecosystem services and disservices in grassland landscapes, South Africa
Open AccessThozamile S Yapi, C M Shackleton et al.ARTICLEEcosystems and People2023
Many alien tree species were introduced into grassland ecosystems in South Africa by the commercial forestry industry for paper and timber for furniture. Over decades some of these introduced species escaped into neighbouring farms and community land. Adult trees from these alien species now provide other ecosystem services, notably fuelwood. Depending on the spatio-temporal context, many of these species can also negatively affect ecosystem serv…
The prevalence, uses and cultural assimilation of shrub and tree invasive alien plants in a biodiversity hotspot along the Wild Coast, South Africa
Open AccessO Wootton, C M ShackletonARTICLEEcosystems and People2023
Invasive alien plant species (IAPS) frequently offer both ecosystem services and disservices to rural communities with high livelihood dependency on local landscapes. However, biocultural relationships with IAPS may go deeper than just provisioning uses, as they may be assimilated into local belief systems manifest in them becoming embedded in cultural constructions such as naming, stories, songs and ceremonies. It is likely that IAPS that are cu…
Fruits of the city: The nature, nurture and future of urban foraging
Open AccessMallika Sardeshpande, C M ShackletonARTICLEPeople and Nature2023
Urban foraging is a global informal phenomenon which has been investigated in the Global North more than other parts of the world. Characterising the nature of urban foraging in the Global South is imperative given the rapid urbanisation and sustainable development priorities in the region. In this study, we interviewed 80 urban foragers in four cities in the eastern coastal region of South Africa, with an aim to understand the nature of urban fo…
Non-timber forest products as poverty traps: Fact or fiction
Open AccessC M Shackleton, Hesekia Garekae et al.ARTICLEForest Policy and Economics2023Cited by: 3References: 27
Working in poverty: Informal employment of household gardeners in Eastern Cape towns, South Africa
A King, A Richard King et al.ARTICLEDevelopment Southern Africa2022
In South Africa there has been relatively little consideration of the informal employment offered to domestic household workers and gardeners. Here we report on the number and profile of gardeners employed by private households and the wage and satisfaction rates in 12 towns of the Eastern Cape. Over 98% of the informal gardeners were male, middle-aged and with limited formal schooling. Approximately 58% of middle and upper income households empl…
Social-ecological change: Insights from the Southern African Program on Ecosystem Change and Society
Open AccessReinette Biggs, Hayley S Clements et al.ARTICLEEcosystems and People2022
Social-ecological systems (SES) research has emerged as an important area of sustainability \nscience, informing and supporting pressing issues of transformation towards more sustainable, \njust and equitable futures. To date, much SES research has been done in or from the Global \nNorth, where the challenges and contexts for supporting sustainability transformations are \nsubstantially different from the Global South. This paper synthesises emer…
Livestock ecosystem services and disservices in a medium-sized South African town
Open AccessG Thondhlana, Papama Yose et al.ARTICLEEcosystems and People2022
Production of livestock in urban spaces is a common phenomenon globally, particularly in the Global South. Livestock provides multiple benefits to society yet its production in urban spaces can result in adverse impacts to residents that can trigger conflicts. Understanding of the ecosystem services and disservices of livestock from the perspectives of residents can inform inclusive local management plans. Using household surveys and key informan…
The use and value of wild harvested provisioning ecosystem services along a landscape heterogeneity gradient in rural South Africa
Open AccessS Herd-Hoare, Shannon C Herd-Hoare et al.ARTICLEEcosystems and People2022
Provisioning ecosystem services (PES) are typically crucial to rural livelihoods, especially in developing countries. However, the links between PES and local biodiversity or landscape heterogeneity are poorly explored. Here, we examined the extent of use and value of locally harvested wild, terrestrial and marine PES (such as wild foods, traditional medicines, firewood, building materials and others) in three villages (35–40 households per villa…
Understanding rural–urban transitions in the Global South through peri-urban turbulence
Open AccessPaul Hutchings, Simon Willcock et al.ARTICLENature Sustainability2022Cited by: 9References: 9
The contribution of wild palms to the livelihoods and diversification of rural households in southern Mozambique
Open AccessAngelina R O Martins, C M ShackletonARTICLEForest Policy and Economics2022Cited by: 3References: 7
Attitudes and preferences towards elements of formal and informal public green spaces in two South African towns
Open AccessA Manyani, C M Shackleton et al.ARTICLELandscape and Urban Planning2021