About Tetepare Island
Tetepare Island, in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands, is one of the
conservation jewels of the South Pacific. This long, rugged island, cloaked in
rainforest and fringed with coral reefs, is the largest uninhabited tropical
island in the Southern Hemisphere. Home to the one of the Solomon Islands' leading
conservation projects and a unique, locally-owned and managed ecolodge, Tetepare’s
natural abundance attracts visitors from around the world.
Uninhabited for 150 years, Tetepare is an island forgotten by time and swathed in mystery. There are many stories that explain why the island was abandoned – fear of head-hunting, ill health attributed to curses, even men being turned against one another by dangerous gossiping in the villages. But what makes this island truly extraordinary is that, in a country which has lost almost all of its forests to commercial logging, Tetepare remains untouched.
At the beginning of this century, when the threat of logging loomed over Tetepare,
the island's traditional landowners rejected logging offers and came together to
save this pristine wilderness for themselves and for future generations. An organisation
made up of local community members called the Tetepare Descendants' Association
(TDA) was created, to manage and protect the resources of the island as a conservation
area. The history of the island and the formation of TDA are documented in the
book “The Last Wild Island- saving Tetepare”.
Tetepare has received international recognition for its conservation and archaeological significance. Experts from around the world, including renowned ornithologist and author Jarrod Diamond, have commended the work on the island. A dazzling variety of plants and animals make their home in the island’s 120 square kilometres of primary lowland rainforest – some of the last remaining in Melanesia.
The island’s beaches support nesting populations of three species of turtle including the endangered leatherback turtle. Other species inhabiting the island and surrounding waters include the dugong (Dugon dugon), the world’s largest skink (Corucia zebrata), the endemic Tetepare White-eye (Zosterops tetepari), hornbills, tiny pygmy parrots, the endangered coconut crab, huge bump-headed parrot fish, schools of barracuda and pods of bottlenose and spinner dolphins. more
HELP CONSERVE TETEPARE
The Tetepare Descendants' Association needs your help to conserve Tetepare. Funds are used for both on and off island activities. On island activities include employing local rangers and conservation staff, fuel, outboard motors, monitoring of threatened species and the marine protected area and upkeep of the field station. TDA also supports local Tetepare descendants and their communities on neighbouring islands through education scholarships, sustainable livelihood activities and workshops. Please click on one of the donation buttons below to donate funds directly to TDA through our Australian and United States endowment funds. All donations are tax deductible in those countries of origin
AUSTRALIAN ENDOWMENT FUND DONATE NOW
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ENDOWMENT FUND - DONATE NOW
(include in the comments section that your donation is for Tetepare when you get to the paypal page)
$50 will conserve 10 leatherback turtle nests
$100 will help rangers stop poaching of endangered dugongs and coconut crabs
$200 will enable a child to attend high school for one year
