Tetepare Island
Encyclopedia
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
, located at 8.7166667°S 157.55°E. It is a part of Western Province of the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
. It covers approximately 118 square kilometres. Tetepare supports pristine lowland rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
and a rich inshore marine area. The meaning of the name is uncertain; it most probably means "wild pig" or "fighting boar" as the island was (and to some degree still is) famous for these animals among inhabitants of the region.
The local residents were apparently once a distinct ethnic group; a Tetepare language
Tetepare language
According to local oral history, the indigenous people of the now-uninhabited island of Tetepare spoke their own language, different to the other languages of the region...
and unique traditions are attested to but information is fragmentary. Like their neighbors on Rendova Island
Rendova Island
Rendova Island is an island, part of the New Georgia Islands of Solomon Islands in the South Pacific, east of Papua New Guinea. There are two indigenous languages spoken on Rendova Island: the Austronesian language Ughele in the north, and the Papuan language Touo in the south.The black-sand...
and New Georgia
New Georgia
New Georgia is the largest island of the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.-Geography:This island is located in the New Georgia Group, an archipelago including most of the other larger islands in the province...
, they appear to have been swidden agriculturalist, and to have occasionally practiced headhunting
Headhunting
Headhunting is the practice of taking a person's head after killing them. Headhunting was practised in historic times in parts of China, India, Nigeria, Nuristan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Borneo, Indonesia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Micronesia, Melanesia, New Zealand, and the Amazon Basin, as...
. But the island was abandoned in the mid-19th century, with the locals dispersing to New Georgia
New Georgia
New Georgia is the largest island of the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.-Geography:This island is located in the New Georgia Group, an archipelago including most of the other larger islands in the province...
, Roviana Lagoon, Vona Vona Lagoon, Nggatokae and Ranongga
Ranongga
Ranongga is an island located in the New Georgia Islands group of Western Province, Solomon Islands.-History:Ranongga was sighted in 1787 by sailors Read and Dale....
.
At the western tip, a 3.75 square kilometre coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
plantation was established in 1907-1918, but this declined since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and all maintenance ceased after 1990. Secondary forest
Secondary forest
A secondary forest is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a major disturbance such as fire, insect infestation, timber harvest or windthrow, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident...
is now reclaiming this area.
Ecology
The island has been recognized for its conservation significance and archaeological values. A total of 73 bird species, 24 reptile, four frog and 13 mammal species have been recorded on Tetepare including rare and endemic bird and bat species.Scientists are still discovering new species on Tetepare. In recent years, researchers discovered three new species of fish, one new fish genera and one potential new fish family in Tetepare's freshwater rivers.
Three species of marine turtles, including the critically endangered leatherback and hawksbill and the endangered green, nest on Tetepare’s volcanic black sand beaches. Sharks, dolphins, crocodiles and an extraordinary diversity of fish species make the island’s reefs their home. The coral reefs of the region support one of the highest diversities of fish and coral in the world, second only to Raja Ampat in Indonesia.
The island sports a rich herpetofauna
Herpetology
Herpetology is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles...
, but gecko
Gecko
Geckos are lizards belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from 1.6 cm to 60 cm....
s are somewhat less diverse.
It supports three species of sea turtles, namely Green Turtle, Leatherback Turtle, and Hawksbill Turtle
Hawksbill turtle
The hawksbill sea turtle is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in its genus. The species has a worldwide distribution, with Atlantic and Pacific subspecies. E. imbricata imbricata is the Atlantic subspecies, while E...
. The latter two are considered critically endangered
Critically endangered
Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...
species, and the former two are known to nest on Tetepare. The Solomon Islands skink
Solomon Islands skink
The Solomon Islands skink is an arboreal species of skink endemic to the Solomon Islands. It is the largest known extant species of skink...
which occurs here is one of the largest living skinks, if not the very largest. The Mangrove Monitor and the snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
Candoia carinata
Candoia carinata
Candoia carinata, known commonly as the Pacific Ground Boa or the Pacific Keel-scaled Boa, is a species of snake in the Boidae family. It is found in Indonesia, New Guinea, and the Bismarck Archipelago....
are also not rare here; these three scleroglossa
Scleroglossa
Scleroglossa is the previously recognized suborder of Squamata that contains the geckos, anguids, worm lizards, monitor lizards, such as helodermatids, skinks and snakes. The name is derived from the Greek, skleros, meaning hard and glossa, meaning tongue.Traditionally, Squamata has been divided...
n "reptiles" are becoming rare in the Solomon Islands. The highly unusual Green Green-blooded Skink can be seen on the beaches.
Bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s are also plentiful, despite the presence of cats. Possibly the pigs and maybe the cats have extirpated certain ground birds, as indicated by the paucity of Gallicolumba
Gallicolumba
Gallicolumba is a mid-sized genus of ground-dwelling doves which occur in rainforests on the Philippines, Indonesia, and in the Pacific region. They are not closely related to the American ground-doves...
dove
Dove
Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...
s and rails. The majestic Sanford's Sea-eagle is plentiful, and among rarer birds, the Beach Thick-knee, Crested Cuckoo-dove
Crested Cuckoo-dove
The Crested Cuckoo-Dove is a species of bird in the Columbidae family.It is found in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands....
and Kolombangara Monarch
Kolombangara Monarch
The Kolombangara Monarch is a species of bird in the Monarchidae family. It is endemic to Solomon Islands.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.-References:...
are found. Nicobar Pigeon
Nicobar Pigeon
The Nicobar Pigeon, Caloenas nicobarica, is a pigeon found on small islands and in coastal regions from the Nicobar Islands, east through the Malay Archipelago, to the Solomons and Palau. It is the only living member of the genus Caloenas....
s and Island Imperial-pigeon
Island Imperial-pigeon
The Island Imperial Pigeon is a species of bird in the Columbidae family. It is found in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests.-References:...
s use Tetepare as a foraging ground, crossing over from their roosts in neighboring mangrove
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
swamps in huge numbers. The only known endemic taxon on Tetepare is the plentiful Tetepare White-eye (Zosterops kulambangrae tetiparius), a subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of the New Georgia White-eye.
Most mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s on Tetepare are bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s. Among these is Fardoulis' Blossom-bat (only described in 1993) and a roundleaf bat that might be Maggie Taylor's Roundleaf Bat
Maggie Taylor's Roundleaf Bat
The Maggie Taylor's Roundleaf Bat is a species of bat in the family Hipposideridae. It is found in West Papua and Papua New Guinea.-References:...
(described in 1981) or a new taxon
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
. In addition, some flying foxes from Tetepare are hitherto unidentified; possibly the New Georgia Monkey-faced Bat (Pteralopex taki) is one of them.
The island supports a population of wild pigs, which are an important food resource for people from neighboring Rendova Island, particularly during feasts. Local hunters help to regulate the pig population through frequent hunting trips to the island. At least one feral cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
is known to exist on the island, but other invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
like the Cane Toad
Cane Toad
The Cane Toad , also known as the Giant Neotropical Toad or Marine Toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad which is native to Central and South America, but has been introduced to various islands throughout Oceania and the Caribbean...
have not reached the island.
Land "ownership" among the Tetepare people was of a customary caretaker nature. Their descendants are still recognized as the traditional landowners or overseers of Tetepare Island, and the island continues to be a place of spiritual and traditional significance in the region. In 2002 the Tetepare Descendants' Association was founded to coordinate the maintenance of the equilibrium between the island ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
and the exploitation of its resources by the growing human population of the Western Province, as well as the preservation of Tetepare as the home of their ancestors. A low-tech field station and ecolodge for ecotourism
Ecotourism
Ecotourism is a form of tourism visiting fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas, intended as a low impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism...
has been built.
Tetepare Descendants' Association
In 1995 Friends of Tetepare was formed from a group of customary landowners to prevent commercial logging on the island. In 2002, the Friends of Tetepare and TOLOA (Tetepare Traditional Landowners Association) came together to form the Tetepare Descendants' Association http://www.tetepare.org (TDA). Their aim was to conserve Tetepare for the benefit of all descendants and future generations. More than 3000 descendants have since joined the TDA, making it one of the largest land-owning organisations in the Solomon Islands.The TDA is a registered Solomon Islands charitable organisation, with an office in the town of Munda, and a field station and ecolodge on Tetepare Island.
The TDA has established a 13 km-long Marine Protected Area
Marine Protected Area
Marine Protected Areas, like any protected area, are regions in which human activity has been placed under some restrictions in the interest of conserving the natural environment, it's surrounding waters and the occupant ecosystems, and any cultural or historical resources that may require...
on Tetepare, which is a no-take zone. This is one of the largest contiguous Marine Protected Areas in the Solomon Islands. TDA rangers, marine monitors, seagrass monitors and turtle monitors work on the island to patrol and protect the MPA and the forest, and to monitor the health of the island's reefs, seagrass meadows and forests, and to tag turtles and protect and relocate turtle nests during the nesting season from September to April.
With funding and support from the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, the TDA has created an ecolodge on Tetepare, which provides jobs for descendants from local villages and raises money to support the conservation program.
The TDA also runs sustainable livelihoods programs for descendant communities and runs a scholarship program to help TDA members pay school fees for their children.
The TDA has received support and funding from several international organisations and individuals including the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, World Wide Fund for Nature
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...
, Conservation International
Conservation International
Conservation International is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, which seeks to ensure the health of humanity by protecting Earth's ecosystems and biodiversity. CI’s work focuses on six key initiatives that affect human well-being: climate, food security, freshwater...
, Australian Volunteers International
Australian Volunteers International
Australian Volunteers International or AVI recruits skilled professionals from Australia to work with partner organisations in Asia, the Pacific, Africa and the Middle East...
and NZ Aid.