The illegal wildlife trade (IWT) has developed into a diverse and lucrative form of transnational organized crime, placing serious pressure on fauna and flora worldwide. The hidden costs include lost ecosystem services (such as carbon storage and water filtration for example), the loss of potential revenue from the sustainable use of natural resources and depriving local communities of resources they rely on for their livelihoods. Wildlife crime erodes rule of law and undermines governance, especially in remote areas and border crossings, but also at key ports. As a region of high biodiversity and substantial wildlife populations, the SADC region has become a major source of many wildlife products and Member States are at the forefront of global efforts to combat wildlife crime, protect vulnerable human populations and strengthen rule of law and governance. The overall objective of the first SADC Law Enforcement and Anti-Poaching (LEAP) strategy (2016-2021) was "to significantly reduce the level of poaching and illegal trade in wildlife fauna and flora and enhance law enforcement capacity in the SADC Region by 2021". The LEAP Strategies derives their mandate from the SADC Protocol on Wildlife Conservation and Law Enforcement (1999) and operationalises this Protocol, it also aligns with several key strategies and policies within SADC and more broadly (e.g., AU Agenda 2063). The revised LEAP strategy (2022-2032) was revised in a two-step process: i) a Situational Analysis of the implementation of the first LEAP strategy, current trends in wildlife crime and emerging trends, and ii) based on this analysis and Member State inputs, an overall revision of the LEAP framework, strategy and actions. This LEAP strategy is structured by crime type (e.g., poaching vs trafficking), where it occurs (e.g., an act of poaching in a PA vs trafficking wildlife products to end-markets), and which actors are involved in preventing it (e.g., wildlife agencies vs special organised crime units). It lays out principles and current best practices to tackle the issues at these operational scales. Key cross-cutting issues are also covered in a new section (e.g., corruption, wildlife crime in the marine environment, etc.) – the central role of corruption in wildlife crime is highlighted and addressed. Thus, a person or organisation involved in tackling wildlife crime can find the part of the LEAP strategy relevant to their work by operational scale or key issue.