Battle on beaches far from finished

As the weeks pass and the evidence of the catastrophe that changed the Bay forever diminishes, it is easy to think that the worst of the Rena disaster is over. With only a small amount of oil left on the ship and the salvors making quicker progress than expected in removing the containers, it sometimes seems that life is back to normal.

Certainly the hype from the rest of the country has settled down and it is now mainly people in the Bay still concerned with the devastating impacts of the oil spill.

But even so, volunteers are getting harder to find and it is even harder to keep motivated.

And this is entirely understandable. Some of the volunteers have worked tirelessly for nearly two months - some have even put their fulltime jobs on hold.

More than 7800 volunteers have registered to help clean up the beaches and at least 4000 have put in more than 12,000 hours of effort so far.

For this, we can't thank them enough.

News this week that more oil had been exposed by strong winds at Papamoa Beach has sparked a fresh cry for volunteers. Volunteer co-ordinator Pim de Monchy says the tar-balls discovered ranged from the size of a fingernail to the size of a credit card.

This only emphasises how the effects of this environmental disaster will be ongoing for many months yet.

Mr de Monchy says community volunteers were invaluable for cleaning up the oil that could not be removed with machinery.

With summer officially started and the influx of usual visitors about to arrive, volunteers are more important than ever.

Keeping our beaches clean is not just important for the obvious environmental reasons but for retaining our status as a top tourist destination. If we continue to struggle for volunteer numbers, perhaps it is time for the local councils and tourism agencies to step in and find a solution. After all, it is their job to promote the Bay's image to the rest of the country and the world.

And tourism is too important for this region to lose.