Justice-based approaches to environmental harm - Environmental Harm: An Eco-justice Perspective - page 7

questions of data and definitions, and what kind of information is
collected by whom.
Conceptual Issues
Environment is defined differently depending upon the frame of
reference. For an ecologist, for example, environment is inseparable
from notions of ecology. The concept of 'ecology' refers to the complex
interactions of nonhuman nature, including its abiotic components
(air, water, soils) and its biotic components (plants, animals, fungi,
bacteria). Humans are implicated in these interactions as the relationship
between humans and the environment is crucial to understanding how
environments change over time, for better or for worse (Merchant,
2005). Legal definitions of the environment include not only 'nature',
'natural resources' and ecological communities, but built environments
and cultural heritage as well (Al-Damkhi et al, 2009). Cities and urban
life can thus be included in conceptualisations of environment, as well
as archetypal places of obvious conservation interest. What happens in
'wilderness' or in the 'metropolis' can nonetheless have major ecological
and social consequences across territorial distances.
Environmental crime is typically defined on a continuum ranging from
strict legal definitions through to broader harm perspectives (see also
Bricknell, 2010). For example:
'an unauthorized act or omission that violates the law and
is therefore subject to criminal prosecution and criminal
sanction' (Situ and Emmons, 2000: 3)
'an act committed with the intent to harm or with a
potential to cause harm to ecological and/or biological
systems and for the purpose of securing business or personal
advantage' (Clifford and Edwards, 1998: 26)
'criminal conduct that may have negative consequences for
the environment' (United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime, 2011: 95)
'environmental harm is a crime' (White, 2011: 1)
The social construction of legal and illegal is far from trivial when it
comes to the study of environmental harm. From a criminal justice