Tetepare Island

Tetepare Island is the largest uninhabited island in the South Pacific, located at coord|8.7166667|S|157.55|E|. It is a part of Western Province of the Solomon Islands. It covers approximately 118 square kilometres. Tetepare supports pristine lowland rainforest 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.Molia (2000), Read & Moseby (2006)]

The local residents were apparently once a distinct ethnic group; a Tetepare language and unique traditions are attested to but information is fragmentary. Like their neighbors on Rendova Island and New Georgia, they appear to have been swidden agriculturalist, and to have occasionally practiced headhunting. But the island was abandoned in the mid-1800s, with the locals dispersing to New Georgia, Roviana Lagoon, Vona Vona Lagoon, Nggatokae and Ranongga.Molia (2000)]

At the western tip, a 3.75 square kilometre coconut plantation was established in 1907-1918, but this declined since World War II and all maintenance ceased after 1990. Secondary forest is now reclaiming this area.

Ecology

The island has been recognized for its conservation significance and archaeological values. The "wild boars" the island name presumably refers to were left behind, and today locals of the region visit Tetepare for hunting these animals; the island serves as a sort of gigantic holding pen for feral pigs. A feral cat population of unknown size also exists, but other invasive species like the Cane Toad until now have spared the island.Read & Moseby (2006)]

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 and the exploitation of its ressources 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 for ecotourism has been built, but access to the island by non-locals is limited.

The island sports a rich herpetofauna, but geckos are somewhat less diverse.It supports three species of sea turtles, namely Green Turtle, Leatherback Turtle, and Hawksbill Turtle. The latter two are considered critically endangered species, and the former two are known to nest on Tetepare. The Solomon Islands skink which occurs here is one of the largest living skinks, if not the very largest. The Mangrove Monitor and the snake "Candoia carinata" are also not rare here; these three scleroglossan "reptiles" are becoming rare in the Solomon Islands. The highly unusual Green Green-blooded Skink can be seen on the beaches.

Birds 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" doves and rails. The majestic Sanford's Sea-eagle is plentiful, and among rarer birds, the Beach Thick-knee, Crested Cuckoo-dove and Kolombangara Monarch are found. Nicobar Pigeons and Island Imperial-pigeons use Tetepare as a foraging ground, crossing over from their roosts in neighboring mangrove swamps in huge numbers. The only known endemic taxon on Tetepare is the plentiful Tetepare White-eye ("Zosterops rendovae tetiparius"), a subspecies of the Grey-throated White-eye.

Most mammals on Tetepare are bats. Among these is Fardoulis' Blossom-bat (only described in 1993) and a roundleaf bat that might be Maggie Taylor's Roundleaf Bat (described in 1981) or a new taxon. In addition, some flying foxes from Tetepare are hitherto unidentified; possibly the New Georgia Monkey-faced Bat ("Pteralopex taki") is one of them.

Footnotes

References

* (2000): "The Great Exodus of Tetepare Islanders". Report for World Wide Fund for Nature South Pacific Program. [http://www.wwfpacific.org.fj/publications/solomons/exodus_tetepare.pdf PDF fulltext]
* (2006): Vertebrates of Tetepare Island, Solomon Islands. "Pacific Science" 60(1): 69–79. DOI: 10.2984/1534-6188(2006)60 [69:VOTISI] 2.0.CO;2 [http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.2984%2F1534-6188(2006)60%5B69%3AVOTISI%5D2.0.CO%3B2 HTML abstract]

External links

* [http://www.tetepare.org/ http://www.tetepare.org/]
* [http://exploringsolomons.wikispaces.com/tetepare Exploring Solomons wiki - Tetepare page]