The CECRN is an interdisciplinary initiative focused on fostering collaboration to improve understanding the causes, consequences, and mitigation of environmental crime. We define environmental crime broadly, to encompass various forms of illegal activities harming the environment. The network brings together researchers, practitioners, and institutions to collaborate, share knowledge, and produce impactful research outputs that contribute to the science-policy interface on environmental law and justice. CECRN empowers these stakeholders to create a civic space where community-based responses to policy, funding and institutional reform can be heard, reaffirming the need for national and international cooperation against environmental crime.