The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), established in 1965, is Australia's national environmental organization. Its formation was a direct response to a proposal from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) for a more coordinated approach to sustainability in Australia, with key figures like HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and WWF head Philip Crowe being instrumental in its inception. Founded in Canberra with Sir Garfield Berwick as its first president, the ACF is an independent, non-partisan, and non-profit organization. It focuses on advocacy, policy development, research, and community organizing, and boasts a substantial membership of 700,000 individuals dedicated to environmental protection.
Over the decades, ACF has spearheaded numerous high-profile and successful campaigns addressing a wide spectrum of environmental challenges. Early triumphs include the impactful "Save the Whales" campaign, which ultimately led to the cessation of commercial whaling in Australian waters, and the successful push for the Great Barrier Reef to be classified as a marine park, banning mining, drilling, and trawling within its boundaries. Its work has since expanded to tackle issues such as climate change, clean energy, rainforest preservation, greenhouse pollution, and land tenure reform for Indigenous communities.
The ACF strategically selects campaigns for their national significance, often collaborating with other environmental groups to maximize impact, exemplified by its involvement in the "Places You Love" campaign and the "Stop Adani" alliance. Other notable achievements include successfully campaigning to prevent mining in Antarctica, securing World Heritage listing for the Wet Tropics (including the Daintree Rainforests) and the Koongarra area within Kakadu National Park, and co-founding the Landcare movement, a grassroots initiative for local environmental management. Furthermore, ACF has been a long-term supporter of land tenure reform in Cape York, which has resulted in over three million hectares of land being returned to Aboriginal ownership.