Scientist Katy Soapi Spearheads Decades-Long Effort to Protect Tetepare, Solomon Islands' Last Untouched Island

Katy Soapi, a respected ocean expert from Solomon Islands, has spent decades leading the fight to protect Tetepare, one of the last untouched islands in the country. Soapi, who in the past became the first woman from Solomon Islands to earn a PhD in natural sciences, has been a driving force behind the community-led conservation efforts that have safeguarded Tetepare's pristine rainforests, rivers, and endangered wildlife.

Growing up on the lush island of Rendova, Soapi developed a deep connection to the ocean from a young age. As commercial logging swept across Solomon Islands in the 1990s, threatening to destroy Tetepare, Soapi joined others in a grassroots movement to resist the logging and preserve the island's ecological and cultural significance. Soapi played a crucial role as a founding member of the Friends of Tetepare, which later evolved into the Tetepare Descendants' Association (TDA), uniting the island's communities in their shared purpose of keeping Tetepare wild.

Through tireless advocacy, lobbying, and community engagement, the TDA has successfully prevented logging on Tetepare, which remains one of the last untouched places in Solomon Islands. Today, the island is managed by the TDA, with community rangers patrolling the pristine rainforests and black-sand beaches where endangered leatherback turtles nest. Soapi's work has inspired conservation efforts across the Pacific, and in 2012, the TDA won the prestigious United Nations Equator Prize for its community-led model.