Tetepare Island, located in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands, is an island forgotten by time and swathed in mystery. Tetepare once supported several fierce headhunting tribes living in coastal villages behind stone wall fortresses. However, all of the inhabitants fled the island several generations ago and it has been uninhabited for over 150 years. 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.
According to oral tradition passed on to descendants, the original tribes of Tetepare were unique and not related to neighbouring islands. Around 1860, the people of Tetepare abandoned their island home in a mass exodus. There are three potential causes of this; disease caused by sea-devil magic, headhunting pressure and/or fighting between Tetepare clans.
We are grateful to the many organisations and individuals who support Tetepare. These organisations and individuals assist us to conserve the very special island of Tetepare and to support TDA communities through scholarships, sustainable livelihoods initiatives, and community projects.
The Tetepare Descendants’ Association is a grassroots conservation organisation that represents the 3500 descendants of Tetepare who live on neighbouring islands. They need your help to conserve Tetepare. They conduct both on and off island activities, and conservation and community work, including turtle monitoring, patrolling the Marine Protected Area and supporting the local communities through sustainable livelihood or education scholarship programmes.