The World Initiative for Sustainable Pastoralism (WISP) is a global advocacy and capacity building network that promotes sustainable pastoral development for both poverty reduction and environmental management. WISP is a catalyst for partnership fostering between pastoralists, governments, Non-Governmental Organizations, International Organizations and the private sector.
With its knowledge management approach and its engagement for advocacy, capacity building and networking, the programme contributes to enabling pastoralists to sustainably manage the rangelands and to demonstrate that their land use and system is an effective way of harnessing natural rangeland resources.
Pastoralist communities are often socially and politically marginalised. Their livelihoods are frequently undermined by inappropriate policies and laws and by pressures on their resources from more politically powerful neighbours and other competitors. WISP therefore works to empower pastoralists and pastoral institutions by enabling them to gather knowledge and influence policies that constrain their livelihoods and their ability to sustainably manage their resources.
WISP provides the social, economic and environmental arguments for to improve perceptions of pastoralism as a viable and sustainable resource management system. WISP also advocates for an enabling environment for sustainable rangeland management, improved pastoral livelihoods and pastoral empowerment.
WISP OBJECTIVES
The overall goal of WISP is to enhance the enabling environment for sustainable range management, improved pastoral livelihoods, and pastoral empowerment. The immediate objective is to advocate and to engage in capacity building in support of pastoral sustainable land management, through a catalytic partnership between pastoralist, donors, UN agencies, NGOs and the private sector.
WISP RESULT AREAS
1. Better appreciation of mobile pastoralism as a form of productive and sustainable land management, to promote poverty alleviation and ecosystem integrity within agro-ecological landscapes.
2. Enhanced capacity for pastoralist, civil society organizations, and public and private institutions.
3.Increased advocacy for effective policies and laws favouring sustainable pastoral resource management (for greater recognition of mobile pastoralism and greater awareness by national stakeholders of policy options to support pastoral livelihoods).
4. Participation, evaluation and adaptive management increased in WISP.
