Read all the latest news from Tetepare Island and the TDA at our Tetepare News Blog. Click here to visit the blog.

For older news items, take a look through our news archive below.

NEWS ARCHIVE

NEW TETEPARE NEWS BLOG

JANUARY, 2011

We've just launched a news blog, where you can find all the latest news from Tetepare Island and the TDA. Click here to visit the news blog.

TDA WELCOMES NEW ADVISORS

JANUARY, 2010

The Tetepare Descendants’ Association will host three new Australian technical advisors in 2010, after saying a sad farewell to Anthony, Michaela and Gabe who have returned home after spending the last 18 monthswith us. Gillian Goby will be joining us as our new Conservation Advisor, based on Tetepare Island. Ingrid DeLacy will be our new Sustainable Livelishoods Advisor. And Roger Trollope will be joining the TDA later this year as our new Communications Advisor. All three volunteers come to us from Australian Volunteers International, who we thank for their continued support of our programs.

TETEPARE DESCENDANTS LEARN NEW HOSPITALITY SKILLS

JULY 16, 2009

The Tetepare Descendants’ Association held a three-day hospitality training workshop on Tetepare Island this month, in an effort to promote sustainable livelihoods in the Western Province.

NEW LIVELIHOODS FOR TETEPARE DESCENDANTS

MAY 29, 2009

The Tetepare Descendants’ Association held its first ever sustainable livelihoods workshop this month – an organic gardening and livelihoods workshop on Rendova Island in the Western Province.

TETEPARE'S REEFS IN TOP SHAPE

MAY 2, 2009

A recent survey of coral reefs around Tetepare Island has confirmed the island’s reefs are in excellent health.
TDA marine monitors found high coral and fish diversity and healthy populations of key fish and invertebrate species, both inside and outside the Marine Protected Area.

TDA CELEBRATES RECORD-BREAKING TURTLE SEASON

MAY 2, 2009

The TDA is celebrating a record breaking turtle-hatching season on Tetepare Island.
At the close of the turtle-hatching season on Tetepare last week, the TDA announced that more than 800 critically endangered leatherback turtles hatched on Tetepare beaches during the turtle-breeding season.
And almost 300 endangered green turtles hatched on Tetepare, where rangers have been working to save these endangered turtle species.

NEW TETEPARE WATCH NEWSLETTER OUT NOW

March 1, 2009

The TDA's latest Tetepare Watch Newsletter is out now, and available online. This issue includes stories on the TDA's new EU funding, the record-breaking leatherback nesting season on Tetepare, our movie star coconut crabs, new coconut crab harvesting rules, poetry about Tetepare Island, our latest research and monitoring news, an update on the TDA's sustainable livelihoods program and more. Read a copy of the newsletter, here.

RECORD LEATHERBACK HATCHLING NUMBERS ON TETEPARE

February 23, 2009

Leatherback turtles are hatching in record numbers on Tetepare Island, in the Western Province, as rangers work to save the critically endangered species from extinction. Almost 300 leatherback turtle babies have hatched from nests on Tetepare, just six weeks into the three- month-long hatching season.

LEATHERBACKS LURE TOURISTS TO TETEPARE

December 29, 2008

TOURISTS are descending on Tetepare Island in the Western Province in the hope of seeing a rare leatherback turtle, as rangers on the island work to save the critically endangered species.
Conservation staff from the Tetepare Descendants’ Association (TDA) have declared this breeding season one of the best since their turtle monitoring program began five years ago, with more females nesting than in previous years.

TETEPARE ECOLODGE EXPANDS

November 20, 2008

The TDA has completed the construction of a second ecolodge leaf house. The new ecolodge, built in traditional Melanesian-style, increases the total number of guest rooms available on Tetepare from three to five.

The new leaf house will allow the TDA to accommodate the growing number of tourists coming to Tetepare.

BBC FILM CREW VISITS TETEPARE

November 2, 2008

Tetepare’s coconut crabs are set to star in an upcoming BBC wildlife documentary on the South Pacific. A film crew from the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Natural History Unit spent a week on Tetepare in October filming coconut crabs for a major new wildlife documentary series.

NEW AUSTRALIAN SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS ADVISOR STARTS WORK WITH TDA

August 15, 2008

The TDA has welcomed a new Sustainable Livelihoods Advisor from Australia, who will be working in the Munda office for the next 18 months. Gabe Mcghee, from Queensland, Australia, will be working with the Programme Coordinator in the Munda office, overseeing the TDA's sustainable livelihoods program.

TDA WELCOMES NEW AUSTRALIAN TECHNICAL ADVISORS

MAY 15, 2008

The TDA has welcomed two new technical advisors from Australia, who will be working on Tetepare for the next 18 months. The advisors, Anthony Plummer and Michaela Farrington, are volunteers from Australian Volunteers International, and will take up the roles of Conservation Advisor and Communications Advisor to the TDA.