The recent and rapid increase in wildlife crime not only threatens the survival of significant populations of endangered species in South Africa, but also threatens regional security, the sustainability of the tourism sector and social stability of local communities. Many interventions and actions in addressing wildlife crime fail to achieve sustained impact mainly due to the complexity of the problem and the resulting multiple and simultaneous interventions needed along the short, medium and long term. Factors that contribute to the complexity of the problem are, the number of role players involved, the framing of the problem through different worldviews, the high stakes, the number of simultaneous aspects of interventions, the problem dynamics and the huge number of interactions. Different aspects of the problem are interconnected, but stakeholders are tempted to address the problem in parts (fragmentation), thus creating new problems. This dynamic facilitates situations in which decision makers find the problem too big and complex to address and they remain in a state of crisis management. Addressing the current wildlife crisis requires harmonised efforts incorporating on-the-ground cross-border cooperation and a strategic environment that balances conserving wildlife with stakeholder needs for economic growth and local, national, and regional stability. This paper explores innovative and integrated ways in mitigating the complexity of the wildlife crime problem. The approach is problem focused as opposed to discipline focused or organisation-centric. The paper also discusses the lessons learnt and the resulting preliminary set of “principles”: inclusivity of actors, different ways of being and knowing as ways of addressing fragmentation; foresight; governance, as dynamic problem solving to build capabilities; and the transforming organisational narratives as part of implementing new strategies. These “principles” form the basis of the whole-of-society approach in dealing with complexity and can be applied in future interventions that concentrate on combining operational and scientific expertise with local knowledge, through participatory learning and governance.

中文翻译：

---

南非针对野生动植物犯罪的全社会方法

野生动植物犯罪最近和迅速增加，不仅威胁到南非大量濒危物种的生存，而且还威胁到区域安全，旅游业的可持续性和当地社区的社会稳定。解决野生动植物犯罪的许多干预措施和行动未能取得持续的影响，这主要是由于问题的复杂性以及在短期，中期和长期内需要采取多种同时干预措施。导致问题复杂性的因素有：所涉及的角色参与者数量，通过不同的世界观来确定问题的框架，高风险，干预的同时发生的数量，问题的动态性以及大量的交互作用。问题的各个方面相互关联，但是利益相关者很想部分解决问题（碎片），从而产生新的问题。这种动态促进了决策者发现问题太大，太复杂而无法解决，并使他们处于危机管理状态的情况。要解决当前的野生动植物危机，就需要采取协调一致的努力，包括进行实地跨界合作和建立战略环境，以平衡保护野生动植物与利益相关者对经济增长以及地方，国家和地区稳定的需求。本文探索了减轻野生动植物犯罪问题复杂性的创新和综合方法。该方法以问题为中心，而不是以学科为中心或以组织为中心。本文还讨论了经验教训以及由此产生的初步“原则”：参与者的包容性，解决存在分裂的不同方式和存在方式；预见 治理，作为动态解决问题的能力，以建立能力；以及将组织叙述转变为实施新策略的一部分。这些“原则”构成了应对复杂性的全社会方法的基础，并且可以应用在未来的干预措施中，这些干预措施旨在通过参与式学习和治理，将运营和科学专长与本地知识相结合。