Tetepare: Community Conservation in Melanesia

Tetepare, an island in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands, is the largest uninhabited tropical island in the Southern Hemisphere. Tetepare has a largely intact wilderness, with remarkable biodiversity of globally significant conservation importance. This case study explores the biodiversity of Tetepare and efforts to maintain Tetepare as “the last wild island.” In response to threats by the extractive logging industry, the landowners of the island – Solomon Islanders descended from Tetepare’s original inhabitants - formed what is today known as the Tetepare Descendants’ Association (TDA), an organization that manages and conserves the island and its resources. TDA members receive benefits through a community conservation agreement (CCA): in return for conserving the land and rejecting all commercial exploitative industries, members receive benefits including scholarships, sustainable livelihood development, and employment opportunities. Tetepare’s conservation serves as an example of landowners successfully leveraging their natural inheritance to sustainably meet the economic needs of their communities without sacrificing the natural heritage of future generations.