- Founded: 1986
- Species: Koala
What is the Australian Koala Foundation?
The Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) is Australia’s leading not-for-profit dedicated to the long-term conservation of the wild koala and its habitat. Founded in Brisbane in 1986, the AKF funds tree-by-tree habitat mapping, research and advocacy, and raises awareness of the threats facing Australian koalas and other native wildlife.
The Australian Koala Foundation is a registered Australian charity, ABN 58 050 019 649.
Australian Koala Foundation’s Mission
The Australian Koala Foundation’s vision is “A world where koalas and their habitat exist for all time.” Its mission is “To secure the existence of Australian native forest ecosystems that support healthy populations of koalas in perpetuity, through research, education and advocacy.
Projects
The Australian Koala Foundation funds research and mapping of Koala habitats through their award-winning Koala Habitat Atlas project.
They work to educate and engage the community in conservation through their tree planting program and they have created partnerships to achieve greater protection for the koalas and their habitats.
The Australian Koala Foundation is a voluntary, nonprofit organization of Australian citizens and expatriates who care for koalas who are sick, injured or orphaned. The foundation’s work focuses on the following:
- Saving Australian wildlife by providing funds to enable local people to look after orphaned and injured koalas
- Raising awareness of the plight of Australian wildlife with current programs focusing on climate change; targeting universities; secondary schools; working with media outlets and running public campaigns
- Improving understanding and appreciation of Australian native forest ecosystems through research into the lifecycles and management needs of all species inhabiting these habitats. Representatives from this group have met extensively with government departments in France, Belgium and Japan seeking support for Australia’s unique wildlife.
- Funding for Australian Koala Foundation projects is received through Australian public donations and via Australian charitable trusts providing tax deductibility to Australian citizens who choose to donate.
The foundation operates in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Japan and South Africa.
See Related: Conservation vs Preservation
The Koala Habitat Atlas and Koala Kiss Project
The Australian Koala Foundation’s flagship program is the Koala Habitat Atlas, a tree-by-tree GIS mapping project the AKF began after the catastrophic 1994 NSW bushfires destroyed key koala strongholds. The full Atlas, covering 1.7 million trees across 25 landscapes, was released free to the public in September 2023. Governments and courts now use it to identify koala habitat: in August 2025 a Victorian road bypass was shifted 400 metres to save 183 Atlas-flagged trees, and a September 2025 Senate inquiry into koala conservation cited the Atlas’s finding that 62% of mapped habitat had been cleared since 2010.
The AKF’s other major initiative is the Koala Kiss Project, which reconnects fragmented koala habitat at “kiss points” — places where patches of habitat are separated only by a strip of cleared land. Between July 2024 and June 2025 the AKF raised A$2.8 million to plant 1.1 million trees linking 47 kiss points across south-east Queensland and the NSW north coast, including a wildlife corridor between Taree and Port Macquarie completed in October 2025.
Conserving Koala Habitat
The AKF argues that existing wildlife law protects individual koalas but not the trees they depend on, so it has drafted its own model national legislation, the Koala Protection Act. The proposed Act would block development on land containing koala-food trees identified in the Habitat Atlas unless developers can prove the impact is benign. It has not yet been passed by the federal parliament, and the AKF continues to lobby for it.
On existing law, the AKF successfully lobbied for the koala to be listed as Vulnerable under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act in 2012; in February 2022 its status in Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT was upgraded to Endangered.
Is the Australian Koala Foundation legitimate?
Yes — the Australian Koala Foundation is a legitimate, registered Australian charity (ABN 58 050 019 649) that has operated since 1986 under long-time CEO Deborah Tabart.
It is an umbrella organization of researchers and volunteers who are committed to conserving the natural environment on which Australian koalas rely.
They purchase land so it can be protected for future generations of Australians.
The Aussie Koala Foundation also publishes information aimed at educating Australians about environmental issues so more people can play their part in protecting our precious natural resources for all time – including the iconic koalas!
What is the best charity for koalas?
The best charity for koalas is the Australian Koala Foundation. This koala conservation organization is an Australian non-profit founded in 1986. Using standardized survey tools, the Australian Koala Foundation has performed a statewide study of koalas to determine the factors which are impacting their numbers and what needs to be done to protect them.
They’ve studied vulnerable communities, clarified threats to koalas, and promoted greater understanding of how people live with them in urban environments as a means to reverse this population decrease.
The Australian Koala Foundation also organizes rescue missions for orphaned joeys, collaborations with scientific organizations on the research of wild populations, and warns its members about environmental risks to koalas.
It is up to Australian society to ensure that koalas have the opportunity to live in their natural habitat without being at risk of extinction. By protecting them, Australian’s show how they value these important Australian icons.
Where can I donate to help koalas?
One major organization that is at the forefront of conserving the koala habitat is the Australian Koala Foundation. This is a foundation that supports research and conservation to help koalas in Australian habitats and is currently accepting donations.
How to help
Do you want to support the work of the Australian Koala Foundation to protect the Koalas and their habitats in Australia, then click on the donate button and go to their website.