case studies undp: tetepare descendants’ association, solomon islands

7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: TETEPARE DESCENDANTS ASSOCIATION, Solomon Islands

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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities

Solomon Islands

TETEPARE DESCENDANTSASSOCIATION

Empowered live

Resilient nation


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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES

Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that woor people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth

their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practitionthemselves guiding the narrative.

To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser

that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succto scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models

replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Yearsthe Equator Prize,a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.

Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.

EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph CorcoranManaging Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding

Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Sean Cox, Larissa Currado, David Godrey, Sarah Gordon,

Oliver Hughes, Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning MaMary McGraw, Brandon Payne, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding

DesignSean Cox, Oliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Loren

de la Parra, Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.

AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude Tetepare Descendants Association. All photo credits courtesy o Tetepare DescendaAssociation. Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.

Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2013. Tetepare Descendants Association, Solomon Islands. Equator Initiative Case Study Ser

New York, NY.
http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-eventshttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-eventshttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=685http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-eventshttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-events


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PROJECT SUMMARYTetepare Descendants Association (TDA) represents the legalowners o Tetepare Island, the largest uninhabited island inthe tropical Pacic and one o the last remaining unloggedtropical islands in world. To help indignous landholdersresist pressures rom industrial logging companies, TDApioneered community conservation agreements wherebylandholders and their communities are provided withalternative livelihood opportunities in exchange or acommitment to the sustainable management o marineand orest resources.

A marine protected area has been established as apermanent no-take zone, serving as a nursery and reugeor sh. Fish abundance has grown substantially, as havelocal incomes. TDA also operates a community ecotourismenterprise that provides jobs or community members.Training has also been provided in coconut oil production,marketing, and agriculture and a scholarship program hasbeen established to enable local youth to pursue higheducation, trade school, and vocational training.

KEY FACTS

EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2012

FOUNDED: 2003

LOCATION: Tetepare Island, Western Province

BENEFICIARIES: Tetepare descendants & their communiti

BIODIVERSITY: MPA, endemic species, rainforest

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background and Context 4

Key Activities and Innovations 6

Biodiversity Impacts 8

Socioeconomic Impacts 8

Policy Impacts 9

Sustainability 10

Replication 11

Partners 11

TETEPARE DESCENDANTS ASSOCIATIONSolomon Islands


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etepare Island, in the Western Province o Solomon Islands, is aonservation jewel o the South Pacic. Fringed with biologicallyiverse coral rees and encompassing over 12,000 hectares o

ainorests and mangroves, this uninhabited island is one o the ewemaining unlogged tropical islands in the world, and home to aazzling array o terrestrial and marine lie. Like much o Solomon

slands orests, however, this natural heritage is under threat romommercial logging.

etepare Descendants Association (TDA) ormed in 2003 to protect

he islands biological diversity, channelling international undingo provide the islands legal owners the descendants o Teteparesormer inhabitants with alternative livelihood opportunities in

xchange or their commitment to the conservation o Teteparesmarine and orest resources.

Habitat and species richness

etepares rainorest some o the last remaining, primary, lowlandainorest in Melanesia houses at least 73 species o bird, 24 reptile

pecies, our rog species, and 13 mammal species, including aumber that are endemic to Tetepare. Yet more species likely remain

o be discovered, with scientists only recently discovering three newpecies o sh and one new sh genus in the reshwater rivers within

he islands orests. In 2006, scientists identied some 33 taxa o

uttery, and a recent bat survey indicated the presence o as manys 18 dierent bat species. The island is home to the worlds largest

kink (Corucia zebrata), as well as many avian species. In act, Teteparees within BirdLie Internationals Solomon Group Endemic Bird

Area, designated or its high level o avian endemism. Birds oundn Tetepare include hornbills, pygmy parrots, sea eagles, kingshers,

nd the endemic Tetepare White-eye (Zosterops tetepari).

etepares marine biodiversity is no less remarkable. The islands black

and beaches support nesting populations o three turtle species,ncluding the critically endangered leatherback (Dermochelys

coriacea) and hawksbill (Eretmochelys imbricata) sea turtles, andendangered green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), while the surrounwaters support sharks, bottlenose and spinner dolphins, saltw

crocodiles, dugongs (Dugon dugon) and the coconut crab (Blatro). The rees surrounding Tetepare host one o the worlds higdiversities o coral and sh species, including bumphead parro

(Bolbometopon muricatum) and barracuda. The area is part oPacic Coral Triangle, recognized as a global centre or coral dive

and a high priority or marine conservation.

The origins o TDA

For all Tetepares marine and terrestrial biodiversity, one sp

that is notably absent rom the island is humans. Tetepare has uninhabited since the mid-19th century and is in act the la

uninhabited island in the tropical Pacic. There are many theas to why the island might have been abandoned but the re

is not known with any certainty. Scattered now throughoutWestern Province o Solomon Islands, on the neighbouring isl

Background and Context


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New Georgia, Roviana Lagoon, Vona Vona Lagoon, Nggatokae andanongga, the descendants o the Tetepare Islanders retain their tieso Tetepare through customary land ownership and oral traditions.

n 1995, a group o these customary landowners ormed the group

riends o Tetepare to address the threat o commercial loggingn Tetepare. In 2002, this group joined orces with the Tetepare

raditional Landowners Association (TOLOA) and in 2003 the

rganizations ofcially merged to orm Tetepare DescendantsAssociation (TDA). The association ofcially represents the legal

wners o Tetepare and supports them in rejecting logging oers inrder to conserve the islands natural resources or the benet o all

etepare descendants, present and uture. Over 3,000 descendants the Tetepare Islanders have joined TDA, making it one o the

argest landowners associations in the Solomon Islands.

Supporting landowners to resist commercial logging

he logging industry is the single most signicant economic sector

n the Solomon Islands, contributing 67% o export earnings andome 12-13% o total government revenue. As much as 50% o the

mployed workorce may be associated directly or indirectly withhe orest sector. According to the U.N. FAO (2010), 79% or about

,213,000 ha o Solomon Islands is orested, o which around hals primary orest. Between 1990 and 2010, however, the islandsost 4.8% o its orest cover (around 111,000 ha.) The reliance on

ommercial logging drives this deorestation, and has resulted inire orecasts or the nations orest stocks. Since 2000, the country

as been warned that the volume o timber annually harvested romative orests was too high; in 2009, the Central Bank o the Solomon

slands asserted that this exhaustion o timber stocks had alreadyccurred.

With the aim o helping Pacic island communities resist theemptation o lucrative logging contracts, the American Museum o

Natural Historys (AMNH) Center or Biodiversity and ConservationU.S.) developed the use o Community Conservation Agreements

CCAs). These agreements stipulate alternative livelihoodpportunities and educational benets or communities in exchange

or their commitment to the conservation o natural resources.

his work has been undertaken in Solomon Islands by the Solomon

slands Community Conservation Partnership (SICCP), a registeredharitable trust ounded by AMNH in 2008 that maintains direct

ngagement with rural landholding communities in biologicalssessments, landholder association development eorts,

nd implementation and renement o CCA benet-deliverymechanisms. Since its inception, SICCP has set up a edgling pilot

etwork o community-driven protected areas at key sites across the

ountry. The two most developed CCA partnership areas are Teteparesland, and the Kolombangara Coast to Cloud Forest Reserve, the

argest terrestrial protected area in the Solomon Islands, modelledter TDA and considered a sister project.

he Tetepare CCA orms a ramework by which the islands legalwners can maintain connectivity with their customary lands without

esorting to unsustainable extraction o natural resources to meet

their cash needs; through the work o TDA, Tetepare landholdercompensated or the income they orego by choosing conservaover deorestation and resource exploitation.

The association has been able to leverage relationships

international donor agencies to establish a regional CommuConservation Trust, managed by both SICCP and the Conserva

Agreement Fund, which is designed to house, invest, and disb

CCA support rom all sources, including both philanthcontributions and carbon or ecosystem services payments. Thro

partnership with WWF, or instance, TDA has gained accesinternational unding sources such as the Coral Triangle Initiativ

Decisions over the use o unding are taken in a highly participa

manner. TDA is governed by an Executive Committee compo elected representatives o its members. The associat

constitution states its aim as being to unite Tetepares landowto manage and conserve Tetepare and its natural resources obenet o present and uture generations descended rom Tete

Islanders. The organizations governance and operational strucserve this mission well. Annual general meetings and quar

executive meetings provide orums or collective decision maand the incorporation o local knowledge and data into reso

management plans, empowering communities to steward natural resources to their long term benet. This robust governhas acilitated TDAs growth rom a edgling landowners associa

to a world class community-based conservation organizaresponsible or one o the largest integrated land and ma

conservation initiatives in the Pacic.


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Key Activities and Innovations

n accordance with the CCA system, TDAs activities combineonservation measures with the provision o educational and

lternative livelihood opportunities to its members to compensateor the income they have oregone through their commitment to

preserve Tetepare Island rom logging. Conservation measuresnclude permanent and temporary marine protected areas (MPA),

biodiversity monitoring activities, and conservation incentive

programmes. Its alternative livelihood activities include ecotourismctivities, training and business support or community members,

nd a scholarship programme to enable local youth to pursueecondary education, trade school, or vocational training. In many

ases, these conservation and livelihood aspects o TDAs work areomplementary, with conservation activities providing employment

or local community members, and serving to increase the healthnd abundance o a marine resource, or example.

Marine conservation measures

n addition to setting aside the entire island o Tetepare or

onservation, TDA has established an MPA - the largest in Solomonslands - running 13 km rom the western tip o the island on Mbo

oint to the eastern edge o nearby Soe Island. The MPA unctionss a permanent no-take zone and serves as a nursery and reuge

or sh, boosting sh numbers even outside the designated area,o the benet o local shers. In June 2010, TDA members electedo establish two urther, temporary MPAs around Tetepare, to help

sh stocks recover rom increased harvesting. These MPAs operateon alternate years.

o reduce pressure on ragile ree, lagoon and estuarine sheries,DA is experimenting with the placement o Fish Aggregating

Devices (FAD) near the shore. FADs are rats tethered to the seabedwhich attract sh such as marlin, tuna, rainbow runner and mahi

mahi. Placing these devices within paddling distance o specicommunities that have invested in the MPA compensates them or

heir loss o access to the MPA as a shing ground and simultaneouslyelieves pressure on commercially valuable species within the MPA.

Biodiversity monitoring

The association also carries out monitoring o Tetepares terreand marine wildlie. TDA rangers are employed rom wthe community and make regular patrols o the island an

surrounding area to ensure that regulations are being comwith. Individual species including coconut crabs, certain sp

o sea grass, giant clams, and endangered sea turtles are targthrough tailored community protection measures. For exam

TDA participates in the Global Ree Check initiative, through wcoconut crabs are monitored both within and outside the MPgauge the eectiveness o the protected area designation. Sea

Watch monitoring has been conducted annually on Tetepare Issince 2005. This is conducted by women rom the neighbo

Rano and Lokuru villages who have been trained in seagmonitoring methods. TDAs operational structure ensures tha

ndings o monitoring activities inorm action. For example, wcoconut crab data indicated critically low levels o the species, T

Executive Committee, alongside the Tetepare communities, agto establish additional seasonal protected areas in which coccrab harvesting is banned.

Economic incentives or endangered species conservati

Endangered sea turtles that nest along Tetepares beaches aspecial ocus o conservation measures and monitoring. During

nesting and hatching season rom September to April, TDA ran

work in shits throughout the night to guard the nesting aThey tag nesting emales, relocate precariously located neshigher ground, install predator exclusion cages to protect eggs predators, and collect data on egg numbers and size, clutch size

hatching success o leatherback and green sea turtles.

The association also runs a leatherback turtle conservation inceprogramme on neighbouring Rendova Island, which is hom

many TDA members. This initiative, coordinated by TDA sta, rewcommunity members or reporting and protecting turtle nAnyone who reports a nesting leatherback turtle or an active


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o their village turtle monitor receives a nancial reward, which isupplemented i the nest they discovered hatches successully. Thisrovides an incentive or community members to guard and protect

ny nests they nd. In addition, TDA donates money to a communityund or each nesting turtle and nest reported to the turtle monitor,

nd or each nest that hatches successully.

Ecotourism and other livelihood opportunities

Apart rom their obvious benets to local wildlie and biodiversity,

DAs conservation measures provide high quality employmentpportunities to community members who work as TDA sta and

angers. This is just one o a range o employment opportunities thatDA has developed to provide sustainable sources o income to theetepare-descended communities.

DA also operates a community ecotourism enterprise which centres

n an ecolodge on Tetepare Island itsel. The lodge and its activitiesrovide direct income to community members who work as sta in

he lodge and as guides or tourism activities such as snorkelling,

ainorest walks, bird watching and canoeing. To limit the impact

the ecotourism enterprise on Tetepares wildlie, the number oisitors is limited to a maximum o 13 people at any given time. Allon-descendants visiting Tetepare are charged a conservation ee

SI$100 (approximately USD 14) to support TDAs conservationrogrammes.

The ecolodge and its guests also provide a market or incgeneration activities supported by TDA. The association provided members with training in a range o alternative livelih

activities, including coconut oil production and marketing. Itprovided drum ovens or the establishment o village bakeries

has provided marketing assistance to local artisans. TDA also rungali nut (or Canarium nut) programme, through which it purch

nuts rom women in villages on nearby Rendova Island, or shipm

to the capital, Honiara. Throughout its range o activities, now employs over 50 local people, in either permanent or ca

capacities, and provides opportunities or income generatiomany additional community members.

In addition to the training and employment TDA provide

scholarship programme, established in 2005, has enabled local yto pursue secondary and higher education and vocational train

The scholarship programme assists up to 80 students each year

school ees, through scholarships awarded based on academic mand greatest need. School ees are paid directly to schools in o

to ensure these unds are used or their intended purpose. To dscholarships have been awarded to high school students as w

or trades and vocations such as teaching and nursing.


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Impacts

BIODIVERSITY IMPACTS

The Tetepare landholders decision to conserve the entire island oTetepare in its natural state has had immeasurable benets or theslands rich biodiversity, which includes numerous endangered

nd endemic species. Tetepares rainorest is a haven or avianbiodiversity in particular, and is home to the endemic Tetepare

White-eye (Zosterops tetepari), as well as many reptile, mammal andnsect species, more o which are being discovered and identied

ll the time. The islands beaches support nesting populations oendangered sea turtles, while the marine area surrounding Tetepareorms part o the Coral Triangle global centre o coral biodiversity.

The associations most signicant impacts, in terms o environmental

nd biodiversity benets, have been through the avoidance odamage rather than improvements to species abundance and

diversity. By setting aside the entire island or conservation andestablishing a MPA in the surrounding waters, TDA has ensured thatTetepare remains one o the ew untouched islands in the Pacic, in

ontrast to many neighbouring islands which have been logged andovershed. By resisting oers o logging contracts or the island, the

Tetepare descendants have protected one o the regions last majoreuges or endemic species. While much o the Pacics rainorest

rea has been severely degraded, or even lost entirely, Teteparesorests remain intact, in contrast to much o Solomon Islands

primary orest in particular.

Conservation inormed by local monitoring

Additionally, TDA has recorded signicant increases in the

vailability o natural resources since conservation activities ormallyommenced. The MPA is a good example o this. The area unctionss a strict no-take zone, and serves as a reuge and nursery or sh.

Ultimately, it has boosted sh numbers both within and outside theprotected area by providing a sae haven or sh to reproduce and

develop. TDAs monitoring has demonstrated that Tetepares rees

and sh populations are healthy, both within and outside the Mwhile sh abundance has grown substantially since the MPA

established.

The associations ranger and monitoring activities have

important impacts in terms o the sustainable managemenimportant terrestrial (e.g. coconut crabs) and marine (e.g. troc

species on the island and in the surrounding waters. The resumonitoring indicate a greater abundance o species inside prote

areas versus harvested areas. The leatherback turtle conservaincentive programme on Rendova Island has also exhibpromising outcomes, resulting in signicant increases in hatc

numbers on beaches that are part o the programme.

The organizations operational structure ensures that the resumonitoring are used to best eect, with resource management p

altered according to inormation garnered rom monitoring For example, when recent coconut crab data indicated criticallylevels, the TDA Executive Committee and communities agree

establish additional, seasonal protected areas in which coconutharvesting is banned. Monitoring also allows success to be trac

providing ongoing indications o what methods are workingwhat methods are not. This helps to support community mem

ongoing commitment to conservation activities, by enabling tto see clearly the results o their eorts.

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

Tetepare Descendants Associations work is based on recognitithe act that conservation o natural resources is undamental t

wellbeing o the Tetepare-descendant communities, both in to the reliance o their traditional livelihoods on natural resouand in terms o maintaining strong cultural connections amon

various groups o descendants and their native island. By electinconserve Tetepare, the community has made a decision to sac

short term cash earnings, in the orm o logging concession


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order to preserve the natural resources that contribute to their longerm wellbeing. In doing so, the communities have opened the dooro more sustainable, higher level income generation opportunities

hat have built the capacity o community members, and promiseong-term employment and earning potential. Simultaneously, the

conservation measures being undertaken are resulting in increasedhealth and abundance o the natural resources on which these

communities depend.

ncome gains and community beneft-sharing

The employment and income generation opportunities developed

by TDA have provided sustainable livelihood opportunities orcommunity members to compensate or income oregone due to

he conservation o Tetepare. TDA employs over 50 permanent andcasual local employees through its ecotourism and conservation

activities, and local incomes are reported to have grown substantiallyas a result o TDAs work. Many o these island community memberspreviously had little access to ormal employment other than short-

erm logging work.

TDA also provides support and training or the establishmento small businesses by community members. This support has

ncluded the distribution o drum ovens or the establishment ovillage bakeries, provision o equipment and training or coconutoil production, distribution o seeds or local market gardeners, and

provision o marketing assistance to local artisans. Training has alsobeen provided in business management and book-keeping. The

mall businesses that TDA supports not only provide income orhose who run and work or them, but also much-needed services

or the remote villages in which they operate.

n addition to employment and alternative livelihood activities

hat provide income to individual community members, TDAdirects money to community development unds to ensure that a

arger proportion o Tetepare descendants benet rom the groupswork. Funds paid to individuals through the leatherback turtle

conservation incentive scheme are matched and deposited into acommunity improvement account, while the conservation ee oSI$100, paid by visitors to Tetepare, is also directed to a community

und.

Delivering results or youth and women

TDAs scholarship programme has provided educational scholarshipso over 170 students and is growing every year as TDAs conservation

projects expand. Scholarships are awarded to the amilies o TDAmembers based on educational merit and greatest need. To date,cholarships have been provided or primary and high school

tudents, training in trades, and teaching and nursing training. Thecholarships represent a successul benet-sharing arrangement,

whereby the wider community, especially the younger generation,benets rom the long term advantages o receiving education thatmany would not otherwise be able to aord.

n terms o womens empowerment, TDA has implemented a number

o requirements and activities to ensure womens needs are catered

or by its activities, and that women are well represented withiassociations governance structure. TDAs constitution requiresat least two-ths o the community representatives attending

Annual General Meeting be women and that at least three wosit on the Executive Committee. Women are employed in leade

roles throughout the Associations various activities. A numbactivities cater specically to women, including a micro-bank sav

scheme that helps women to accumulate unds or major expe

Training opportunities have targeted women in particular

example, a Women in Fisheries workshop and a small busmanagement course organized or women through the Solo

Islands National University (ormerly the College o Higher EducatTetepare women have also received training in cooking, gu

and hospitality work through their employment in TDAs ecotouand conservation activities. Women are active in monitoring e

and a team o women undertake seagrass monitoring througannual Seagrass Watch and giant clam survey on the island. Geequity is a priority in the awarding o TDAs educational scholars

ensuring that girls and boys are aorded equal access to educa

Community empowerment and representation

Finally, the social collective that TDA has built has empowthe Tetepare communities as a whole and given voice to tcommunities, whose voices have been represented at internat

orums and meetings, including at the Fiteenth Conerence oParties (COP-15) to the United Nations Framework Conventio

Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2009, as well as in meetings withGlobal Environmental Facility, the Coral Triangle Initiative, the U

Nations Convention on Biological Diversitys Programme o WoProtected Areas, and the UN Ofce o the High Representativthe Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Coun

and the Small Island Developing States (UNOHRLLS), among ot

POLICY IMPACTS

The associations work has helped to develop more orecognition at the provincial and national level o traditional tenure arrangements TDA itsel has been ofcially recogn

as representing the landholders o Tetepare. However, this beyond Tetepare and has empowered indigenous landho

across the region.

At the national level, TDA was used as a model in the developmo Solomon Islands National Protected Areas Act in 2010.

Government o Solomon Islands has also recognized TDA aexemplary indigenous institution in its ofcial statement on REnegotiations as part o UNFCCC negotiation and discussion

Copenhagen in 2009, the government announced Tetepare as aproject or the development o avoided deorestation carbon c

programmes in the region, and in July 2011, TDA participated inception workshop or a UN-REDD readiness support programin partnership with the Secretariat o the Pacic Community (

and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), with a vieinitiating a ormal orest carbon inventory on Tetepare.

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Sustainability and Replication

SUSTAINABILITYustainability is one o the key challenges acing communityrganizations such as TDA. The continuity o TDAs success is

nhanced by attention to governance and nancial management,y embracing a broad range o advisors and supporter groups,nd by increasing awareness o the challenges and successes o

he organization through its website and the acclaimed book Theast Wild Island: Saving Tetepare, as well as through a range o

ocumentary and other media stories.

he CCA that TDA has entered into has been successul in helping its

andholder members resist pressure to sign logging contracts. Thegreement has ensured that community members eel adequately

ompensated or the sacrices they have made in agreeing toreserve Tetepare, and, hopeully, will allow communities to

ontinue to resist logging in the uture. Employment and incomeeneration opportunities in ecotourism, as environmental monitors,nd in the range o small businesses that TDA supports, provide a

trong incentive or the continuation o conservation measures.urthermore, conservation activities to date have resulted in

mprovements in resource availability or local people a very visiblencentive to persist with conservation.

he associations scholarship programme, meanwhile, has beenareully designed as a mechanism to ensure that the benets o the

cotourism project and ongoing conservation eorts are distributedairly among the communities which are spread throughout

olomon Islands Western Province. The scholarship scheme is alsoontributing to TDAs ongoing eectiveness and legitimacy by

nsuring that young members o the communities have the capacityo continue the associations work into the uture.

n terms o community ownership, TDA is composed entirely o thendigenous landholders it represents, and is ofcially recognized as

he representative organization o Tetepare descendants. The TDAonstitution is inclusive o all community members, including women

and youths, with regulations set out to ensure the participatiowomen in AGMs and on the Representatives Committee. An

and quarterly meetings provide a orum or participatory decimaking and regular awareness meeting are held in mem

communities to explain project activities and to educate commmembers about TDAs work. Socially thereore, TDA has a high deo sustainability, with strong buy-in rom its member commun

who enjoy clear benets rom their involvement in the associat

Financially, TDA is pursuing a range o options to securunding into the uture. In 2010, the Tetepare Endowment Fwas established as a ramework or a Solomon Islands Comm

Conservation Fund that would provide core unding to TDA.und is dependent on donations rom individuals and organiza

to keep conservation activities running. The conservation eSI$100 or all visitors to the island helps to cover the costs o

conservation programme, alongside income rom the eco-loTDA has been exploring the possibility o securing susta


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nancing or its conservation activities through the generation o

EDD+ credits, in partnership with ClearSky Climate Solutions, themerican Museum o Natural History and Conservation Agreementund.

REPLICATION

etepare Descendants Association is ofcially recognized by the

overnment as representing the landowners o Tetepare, and asuch it has become a model or other landholding communitieshroughout Solomon Islands. Its successes have inspired similar

rogrammes on the nearby islands o Kolombangara, Gatokae andangunu, and Tetepare has served as a training site or numerous

esource management and monitoring initiatives throughout theountry.

sister project to Tetepare was set up by SICCP on Kolombangaras part o a pilot network o community-managed protected areas

sing the CCA arrangement. This project, the Kolombangara Coasto Cloud Forest Reserve, was modelled ater TDA, and resulted

n the establishment o the Kolombangara Island Biodiversity

onservation Area which is ormally listed under the countrysrotected Area Act. In May 2010, TDAs Sustainable Livelihoods sta

ravelled to Kolombangara or a week to help the projects sta inheir development o a sustainable livelihoods strategy and an

cotourism plan or Kolombangara.

PARTNERS

The associations work has been supported by a network o exadvisors, all o whom have encouraged TDA to embrace a broad ra

o partners and donors. Among these donors, the Solomon IslCommunity Conservation Partnership (SICCP) and the Conserva

Agreement Fund are core supporters: they established and to manage a regional Community Conservation Trust designe

invest and disburse nancial contributions to CCAs, including bphilanthropic contributions and carbon or ecosystem servpayments. The Conservation Agreement Fund has establish

dedicated project endowment in partnership with ConservaInternationals Global Conservation Fund through a contribu

rom AusAID.

The association has also partnered with WWF, which acilitates

membership in the Coral Triangle Initiative. Australian VoluntInternational, Conservation International, Conservation

Global Leadership Foundation, Honeypot Foundation, NZ Solomon Islands National University, and the Sustainable Fore

Conservation Project o the European Union have also prov

support and unding or TDAs work.


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Equator Initiative

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New York, NY 10017Tel: +1 646 781-4023www.equatorinitiative.org

UNDP partners with people at all levels o society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the o growth that improves the quality o lie or everyone. On the ground in 177 countries and territories, we oer global persive and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.

The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati

o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.

2013 by Equator Initiative

All rights reserved

FURTHER REFERENCE

Tetepare Island website: tetepare.org/index-2.html

Tetepare Island research and monitoring reports: tetepare.org/tetepare-research-and-monitoring.html#

Tetepare Descendants Association Equator Initiative prole page:

equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=winner_detail&id=149&Itemid=683

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http://www.tetepare.org/index-2.htmlhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=winner_detail&id=149&Itemid=683http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=winner_detail&id=149&Itemid=683http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/2002winners/CIPASLA_ASOBESURCA/juma_timmer_equatorpaper_031205.pdfhttp://www.tetepare.org/index-2.htmlhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/winners/140/casestudy/case_1370356573.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348068029.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348260928.pdf

case studies undp: tetepare descendants’ association, solomon islands

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