Tupo pamoja, we are together: a collaborative case study of decolonising approaches to research and conservation with Mkuyu Guiding School, Tanzania

This thesis is a collaborative case study with Mkuyu Guiding School, a Tanzanian - owned safari - guide training program located on the fringes of Ruaha National Park in Tanzania. Situated within the broad framing of Indigenous methodologies that emphasise decolonising approaches to collaboration, and addressing the complexities involved in working cross - culturally within previously colonised contexts, the thesis is a col laboratively guided journey that privileges Mkuyu's identity as a safari - guide school, and acknowledges their important contributions as co - researchers and collaborative - participants. The thesis comprises a case - study within a case - study. In the first instance, Mkuyu is presented as a case - study of Tanzanian ownership and self - directed environmental actions that challenge deep - colonial legacies within Tanzanian conservation. In the second, our engagement together on this project asks what contributions collaborative relationships can make to decolonising research and processes, such as those undertaken in conservation efforts . The thesis argues that revealing alternative environmental and ownership narratives through collaboration with Mkuyu challenges deep - colonising legacies around Tanzanian - owned and shaped environmentalism within Western conservation frameworks. By mobilising decolonising methodologies, the thesis argues that similar decolonising approaches applied to current conservation in Tanzania could guide more genuinely collaborative engagements that centre Tanzanian perspectives and decision - making.