Some of New Zealand's most beautiful coastlines are also some of the hardest to reach, and that's exactly why they need the most support. This year, RD Petroleum was proud to back the Southern Coastal Charitable Trust as it delivered the 2026 Rakiura / Stewart Island Beach Clean-up, held from 6 to 10 July.
A Clean-up Two Decades in the Making
The Southern Coastal Charitable Trust's story started back in 2001, when a helicopter pilot doing lobster lifts along the Fiordland coast kept noticing the same thing: rubbish piling up on remote beaches that almost no one ever sets foot on. What began as one person raising the alarm with local fishermen has grown into an organised, volunteer-led operation that has spent more than twenty years clearing marine debris from some of the most isolated coastlines in the country.
The numbers speak for themselves. Past clean-ups have pulled as much as 20 tonnes of rubbish off Stewart Island's beaches in a single trip, with more than 16 tonnes collected again in 2018. Southern Fiordland efforts have seen teams of volunteers filling dozens of bags with lost fishing gear, plastic bottles and other debris washed in by ocean currents, all of it sorted, recycled or disposed of properly once it's off the beach.
Why This Work Matters
Rubbish doesn't wash up on Rakiura and stay there by choice, it's carried in by currents and weather, and once it lands on a coastline this remote, it can sit for years unless someone makes the effort to go in and remove it. That effort takes real logistics: transport, fuel, charter support, accommodation, freight and proper waste handling for a crew of around 25 people over five days.
That's where sponsors come in. Volunteers give their time and their backs; the Trust needs partners to help fund the practical, unglamorous costs of actually getting people and gear onto, and rubbish off, some of the hardest-to-service beaches in New Zealand.
Our Role
RD Petroleum contributed to the fuel and logistics that kept this year's clean-up moving, the kind of behind-the-scenes support that turns a good intention into a completed job. We know first-hand how much distance, weather and remoteness shape work in the south, and we wanted to help make sure that didn't stand in the way of getting Rakiura's beaches cleared this July.
Over five days, the 25-strong team travelled down, set up camp, worked the beaches from 7 to 9 July, and packed out again on 10 July, hauling collected rubbish out of some of the most inaccessible coastline in the country. Given the Trust's track record, 20 tonnes off Stewart Island in 2012 and 16.6 tonnes in 2018, this year's haul will add another solid chapter to two decades of results.
Get Involved
If your business wants to back a proven, hands-on environmental project with real results, you can reach out to Kathryn Molloy, Secretary of SCCT, at ceo@CRA8.org.nz or 027 811 0044.
We're proud to have played our part in protecting New Zealand's southern coastlines this year, and we congratulate the volunteers, operators and Trust team who put in the hard yards on Rakiura. Here's to the next one.
