Know your environment group

The environment has been here for years, and ever since it's been an issue, people have grouped together to do something about it. There are now quite a few organisations campaigning on various environmental issues.

There is no way that all the current environmental activist groups could be listed. There are hundreds, and they start, finish, merge, split, fade, change, collapse and explode with great rapidity. Chain Reaction occasionally compiles a list of these groups (the activist contact list), but we thought that the recent increase in profile of the bigger national organisations warranted a run down of their history and activities.

All environment organisations want and need support, and by supporting or joining you may end up helping the environment too.

World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
The Wilderness Society (TWS)
Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF)
Friends of the Earth (FOE)
Greenpeace

WWF (formerly World Wildlife Fund) is part of an international network of WWFs in 27 countries, with the head office in Switzerland. Its Australian membership is around 27,000 including 8,000 children in the Wildlife Club.

WWF has traditionally concentrated on maintaining endangered species and their habitats. This includes looking for the reasons behind the loss of habitat for endangered species. WWF was, for example, one of the first groups to point to the logging activities of Mitsubishi subsidiaries in Sarawak.

WWF is project based, and has about 50 current projects, lasting from three months to three years or more. These range from captive breeding programmes to increase numbers of endangered species to scientific studies documenting species decline and developing management plans to arrest these trends.

The WWF has recently begun lobbying governments on various issues, notably a land use plan for the Cape York region. There are 11 staff in the Sydney office, and two in Melbourne.

WWF is probably the conservation organisation in Australia with the most corporate support. Its donors include CRA, Coles Myer, Elders IXL and Western Mining Corporation.

WWF members receive a quarterly WWFA Newsletter. There is not much scope for members to be involved in the organisation, but there are three levels of membership (Annual supporter $25; Wildlife Supporter - $50; Wildlife Guardian - $100) each level up receives more information about WWF activities around the world.

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The Wilderness Society (TWS)

TWS commenced as the Tasmanian Wilderness Society in 1976, and grew to be a national organisation with its campaign to save the Franklin River. It later changed its name to reflect that it was considering all sorts of wilderness, not just the Tasmanian bits.

The aim of TWS is the preservation and protection of wilderness, and until recently this has basically meant tall trees and wild rivers. Now the Society also supports concerns for arid zones of South and Western Australia.

TWS was originally a grass roots organisation, and some characteristics of it origins remain, such as consensus decision making. In recent years it has become more involved with lobbying and round table conferences with politicians and other vested interests.

Its campaign objectives of protecting wilderness are limited in that it does not tackle broader global issues or address urban environmental problems. Nor has it helped to break down the notion that the environment is 'local' rather than a place to go visit on your annual leave.

TWS has 13,000 financial members and 30,000 supporters on the mailing list. There are over 50 paid workers for TWS, both full and part time, and offices or officers in each State, and Canberra.

TWS members receive the regular national newsletter Wilderness News, and more or less regular State newsletters. Members may participate in all TWS meetings and forums. There are two national meetings per year. Between these meetings, decisions, such as those on participation in election campaigns, are made by national phone hook-up. Members would probably also be able to participate in these hook-ups, if they knew they were on.

There are various types of membership. Usually it's $28, but there's a concessional rate of $17 and an organisational or household rate of $33.

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Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF)

ACF started in I965 and is one of the most prominent and longest running environment groups in Australia.

ACF is working on three fronts: global change, including the greenhouse effect and the depletion of the ozone layer; biodiversity, namely protecting the rich variety of species; and managing resources, by promoting an ecologically sustainable society.

The ACF does a lot of work with governments, either through submissions to inquiries or direct lobbying, although this sometimes leads to the ACF taking pragmatic compromise positions on major issues. There are some who would like it to be the peak environment organisation in Australia, and others who already think it is.

It has a current membership of 20,000 and members can be involved in the organisation through the local branches and campaign groups in each State. Members can also vote in elections for the council of the Foundation, a concept not in vogue with any of the other organisations listed here. Full membership is $59 ($43 concession) and includes the magazine Habitat six times a year, plus the monthly newsletter Conservation News. Membership only is $32 ($16 concession), which doesn't include Habitat, or you can get Habitat only for $33 (no conc.)

There are about 70 people working for the ACF in a paid capacity around Australia. There are offices in each State and Canberra, with the Tasmanian officer situated with TWS.

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Friends of the Earth (FOE)

Friends of the Earth started in Australia in 1975 and is a member of Friends of the Earth International.

FOE is traditionally a smoggy group, being mostly concerned with urban issues such as hazardous chemicals and domestic recycling and tends to look at the underlying causes of environmental problems than simply focussing on their visible effects. The maxim 'think globally, act locally' charactcrises their approach.

FOE has a strong anti-uranium history, and has been in campaigns for lead-free petrol and energy efficiency.

FOE claims to be an activist group and places a lot of emphasis on developing atternative structures for organising and thus generally operates within a collective &emdash; consensus decision making structure. This style is criticised by somc as being inefficient and elitist.

There are about 3,500 FOE members throughout Australia organised in local groups. These groups are almost independent of each other, with the formal links being an annual national meeting, and occasional ballots.

There are approximately ten paid FOE workers around the country, and the rest is done by active members.

Members get various benefits, depending on the group. All members should receive Chain Reaction, and most groups have a newsletter.

Friends of the Earth encourages people to establish their own FOE groups, and provides advice and some other assistance through the FOE Fitzroy group in Victoria, which is the largest in Australia.

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Greenpeace

Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1971 to oppose atomic bomb testing at Amchitka Island. It is now an international operation with offices in 19 countries. Greenpeace in Australia began in Sydney in 1978. A short while later an office was established in Adelaide.

Greenpeace has three main campaigns in Australia: ocean ecology; toxics; and uranium. It also supports kangaroos and opposes nuclear powered ships. Generally its policies are based on a broad analysis and it is not scared to stick to its principles.

It specialises in spectacular media stunts, and likes mucking about in boats. Good for bringing issues to public attention&emdash;although not always with clear longer term campaign strategies.

Greenpeace Australia is organised as a company and their are 50 voting members able to attend the Annual General Meeting and vote for the seven member Board of Directors.

The group is closely linked to its international structure to the extent that Greenpeace International (located in Amsterdam) has the overriding power to decide which campaigns can be run by Greenpeace Australia.

Greenpeace Australia has about 45,000 paying supporters, who have just been made Associate Members of the organisation. Associate members who contribute $35 ($20 concession) or more receive the international Greenpeace magazine, of which about a million copies are printed.

There are about twenty paid Greenpeace workers in Australia, and although volunteers assist in the offices, help with fundraising, and can get involved in displaying large banners from high places, the structure of the organisation is more inclined towards 'give us your money and we'll save the environment for you'.

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