We must choose our words more carefully if we are to get to grips with the illegal wildlife trade and contribute meaningfully to much-needed debates.

Criminologist and wildlife economy fundi, Dr Annette Hübschle calls it one of her "biggest a-ha moments". Sitting in a circle of about 10 people in a community adjacent to Kruger National Park, she asked: "What does the rhino mean to you? Have you ever seen a rhino? What do you think about rhino protection?"

In essence, people replied, "The rhino has a ranger, a police officer; the rhino has land, a doctor that looks after it. And we don't have these things. And maybe if the rhino goes extinct, we can finally get those things."

These people were living near the park's fence line but had never seen a rhino. They felt the animals were being looked after much better than them, said Hübschle.

Hübschle, a senior research fellow attached to the University of Cape Town, was referring to the "big disconnect" that separates national parks from their neighbours - mostly people who get few services from the state but are denied access to the natural spaces their forefathers turned to for water, wood, game meat and fish.

She participated in a recent Khetha webinar on the social impacts of wildlife crime, along with Sboniso Phakathi, programme manager for Rural...