CITES, wild plants, and opportunities for crime

The illegal trade in endangered plants damages both the environment and local communities by threatening and destroying numerous species and important natural resources. There is very little research which systematically addresses this issue by identifying specific opportunities for crime. This article presents the results of an interdisciplinary study which brings together criminological and conservation science expertise to identify criminal opportunities in the illegal wild plant trade and suggest strategies in order to prevent and mitigate the problem. Methodologically, the study adapts a crime proofing of legislation approach to the UN Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and is based on documentary and interview data. Situational crime prevention is used as a framework to provide points for effective intervention

Deforestation crimes and conflicts in the Amazon

This article explores and explains deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. It primarily takes a green criminological perspective and looks at the harm that is inflicted on many of the Amazon’s inhabitants, including indigenous populations such as ‘uncontacted’ tribes of hunters-gatherers, the oldest human societies. The green criminological perspective also implies that the definition of victimisation is being enlarged: not only (future) humans, but also non-humans can be considered victims. Being the most biodiverse place on the planet, deforestation of the Amazon leads to threats and extinctions of animal and plant species. The main causes of deforestation in the Amazon are land conversion for agriculture (mainly cattle, also soy), practices that are mostly illegal. As the products of the (illegally) deforested rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon are mainly for export markets, western societies with large ecological footprints could be held responsible for deforestation of the Amazon

Anthropogenic Development Drives Species to Be Endangered: Capitalism and the Decline of Species

Green criminologists have extensively studied crimes against non-human species. Importantly, a great deal of this research has focused on case studies of poaching and the illegal trade in wildlife. What is missing from that literature is a systematic analysis of structural factors that threaten non-human species. As a result, we use the capitalist treadmill of production literature to provide a systematic analysis of crimes/harms committed against non-human species. We do this through a discussion of capitalism during the current period of Anthropocene extinction. In the case of the United States we illustrate the general state of species endangerment with reviews of the International Union of Conservation of Nature’s “Red List” of threatened species and additional data on species endangerment from the US Wildlife and Fish Service. The data illustrate the extent of the harm that structural factors may cause to non-human animals. We conclude with suggestions for future work on species decline that focuses on structural factors

Green criminology and crimes of the economy: theory, research and praxis

This paper describes several key developments and dimensions in the field of ‘green criminology’ and discusses some of the relevant debates and controversies arising. It then outlines overlaps and connections with other areas of work within critical criminology. The central focus of the paper is on crimes of the economy as they affect the environment and a substantive, illustrative case study is provided on environmental crimes and harms associated with the oil industry. The paper concludes with some critical observations on where directions in theory, policy and practice may need to turn in a post-growth world