The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is Australia's national environmental organisation, launched in 1965 in response to a proposal by the World Wide Fund for Nature for a more co-ordinated approach to sustainability. One high-profile campaign was ‘Save the Whales’, which ended commercial whaling in Australia, following widespread protest against the huge slaughter. Another was to protect the vulnerable Great Barrier Reef by classifying it as a Marine Park, from which mining, drilling and trawling were banned. By 2000, ACF initiatives extended across a wide range of agendas, such as climate change, clean energy, rainforest preservation, greenhouse pollution and land tenure reform in the indigenous communities. ACF is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organisation focused on advocacy, policy, research and community organising, with a membership of 700,000. Its President, as of 2022, is Mara Bún. Origins Discussions regarding the need for an Australian conservation organisation originated in the 1960s through HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, a founder of the World Wide Fund for Nature pivotal in establishment of the conservation movement in Australia. The head of the World Wide Fund, Philip Crowe, visited Australia in 1965 to advocate for more meaningful conservation action, recommending federal coordination, tax deductible donations for conservation and a national wildlife survey as three important measures. The Australian Conservation Foundation was established at a meeting of founders in Canberra, with the objective of supporting "conservation policies and schemes that need special encouragement by whatever methods are most appropriate," with funding obtained by public appeal for "material as well as moral support" to its work. Sir Garfield Berwick was elected as the foundation president and governance was by a member-elected council. Campaigns and programs The Australian Conservation Foundation campaigns on a wide range of environmental issues, including climate change, environmental law, clean energy, nuclear energy, economics, drivers of unsustainability, water management, and Indigenous land rights. Campaigns and programs are selected predominantly for their capacity to contribute to reforms of national significance. This means that ACF tends not to become directly involved in local environmental issues, except where action on these contributes to achieving broader goals, such as highlighting examples of national problems or generating examples of solutions with larger potential. An example is the Stand up for Straddie campaign, which highlighted the effects of sand mining on Stradbroke Island. The organisation is acutely aware of its limited resources and strives to apply these strategically. This said, ACF is