Tetepare is home to three species of turtle; green, hawksbill and the mighty leatherback. Tetepare is an important nesting ground for the critically endangered Western Pacific leatherback turtle, which is on the brink of extinction. Numbers of leatherbacks in the Western Pacific Ocean have declined by more than 95 per cent since the 1980s due to excessive egg harvesting, hunting of nesting adult turtles, marine pollution, climate change and accidental deaths from commercial fisheries. All turtle species are protected on Tetepare Island and harvesting of eggs or adults is not permitted Our turtle monitoring program involves tagging nesting turtles during the breeding season as well as protecting adult turtles, nests and hatchlings. Climate change has contributed to rising sea levels and rangers build hatcheries above the high tide mark and transfer eggs to areas safe from salt water inundation. Leatherbacks generally nest between late October and January with hatchlings emerging up until April.
Learn about the green and leatherback turtle conservation work on Tetepare Island in the Solomon Islands.
Tetepare has approximately 2km of beaches used for nesting by endangered leatherback turtles and green turtles (Chelonia mydas). TDA rangers and turtle monitors monitor these beaches throughout the nesting season from September to April. They work in shifts, performing all-night foot patrols of nesting beaches, tagging nesting females, protecting and relocating nests, and collecting data on the numbers, sizes, clutch size and hatching success of leatherbacks and greens.
During nesting season, data are collected on any turtle that comes up to nest on the beaches, including green and hawksbill turtles. Nests are relocated to higher ground if they are below the high-tide mark and protected from predators with predator exclusion cages. Nests on Tetepare are particularly vulnerable to predation by monitor lizards. Turtle nests are monitored throughout their incubation. The aim of our nest monitoring program is to protect turtles, increase hatchling numbers for this critically endangered species, and collect data for the management of Tetepare’s turtle habitat. Hatchling success has been growing each year since our turtle program began.
Green and hawksbill turtles (Eretmochelys imbricate) feed in the shallow lagoons of the Marine Protected Area. Rangers patrol the shallow lagoonal waters and ‘leap’ from the boat to capture them by hand. The turtle is then brought to the shore where it is measured and tagged. All the data is recorded and sent to SPREP (South Pacific Regional Environmental Program) to be included in their data base.
We run an incentive program on the weathercoast of Rendova Island to encourage local villagers to protect leatherback turtles and nests on their beaches.Â
In the Solomon Islands, like many places in the world where leatherbacks nest, people routinely eat the eggs of leatherbacks and kill nesting mothers for their meat. On Rendova Island, near Tetepare, the villages of Baniata, Retavo and Havilla are home to key leatherback nesting beaches. We have developed a program to provide financial incentives for people from these villages to record sightings of nesting leatherbacks and to protect the nests, the hatchlings and the adult mothers.Â
Each person who finds a nesting leatherback or a nest, and reports their find to their village turtle monitor, receives a financial reward. If the nest they discover hatches successfully, they receive an additional financial reward. The TDA also donates money to a community fund for each nest that hatches successfully. This program has proved very successful, and has resulted in a significant increase in nests and turtles on these beaches. This program is funding dependent and runs from September to April each year and is coordinated by TDA conservation staff. You can visit Baniata village to look for nesting leatherbacks and hatchlings and support their conservation work.