GLORIA LYIMO

PhD Student at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London

Gloria Lyimo is a PhD researcher at Imperial College London, Centre for Environmental Policy. Her research focuses on understanding how conservation and restoration policies influence landscapes, governance, and decision-making. Gloria integrates ecological and social perspectives to explore the links between policy, land cover change, participation, and the role of knowledge, values, and power in shaping conservation and restoration outcomes. Her work centres on the Saadani–Zaraninge Coastal Forest Ecosystem, a biodiversity-rich and contested landscape where conservation, restoration, tourism, and local livelihoods intersect. She investigates how governance structures, actor networks, and participatory processes affect the implementation of policies and the extent to which different stakeholders’ knowledge and values influence decisions. Gloria has over 14 years of experience in wildlife conservation, community-based natural resource management, and social-environmental justice, with a background as an assistant lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam. She is passionate about amplifying local voices in environmental decision-making and developing actionable insights for sustainable, inclusive restoration strategies.