The historical soundtrack of one of Australia's near-neighbours is at risk of being forever lost.

In a small room lined with shelves brimming with chronicles and recordings at the rear of the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation in Honiara, sits Salei Rukasi.

She has been working there since 1984.

The veteran archivist is painstakingly undertaking the digitisation of thousands of hours of audio tapes to ensure the Pacific nation's unique legacy lives on as time begins to ravage some of the material.

The process, as it applies to the most extensive audio archive in the Solomons, began in the early 2000s in a tiny studio and with a single reel-to-reel machine.

However the equipment is now faulty and the tapes are being sent to Australia to be converted as part of the Pacific Media A

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