A leading expert on modern-day slavery traveled to some of the world’s most dangerous places documenting and battling human trafficking. A pattern began emerging: Where slavery existed, so did massive, unchecked environmental destruction. But why?

Kevin Bales is the co-founder and former president of Free the Slaves, the largest abolitionist organization in the world. Bales also served as a trustee of Anti-Slavery International and as a consultant to the UN Global Program Against Trafficking in Human Beings. He is the author of numerous reports, monographs, and scholarly books on modern slavery, including the acclaimed Disposable People.