Special section introduction: exploring the nexus between human vulnerabilities and environmental crime

This essay introduces the concept of environmental crime in its multiple forms and highlights the ways both the crimes themselves and related legislations compound existing vulnerabilities and generate new ones within communities, most often in the so-called Global South. Importantly, the essay argues for environmental crime to be elevated above a conservation issue and instead be treated by policy makers and law enforcement agencies as an existential threat to human populations and, as such, be afforded a higher level of prioritisation.