The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) is an Australian

environmental Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

not-for-profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

organisation. It was founded in 1965 as the Queensland Littoral Society before changing its name to the Australian Littoral Society and then finally in 1995 to its current title. It works on protecting the health and vitality of Australia's coasts and oceans. The Australian Marine Conservation Society is Australia's only national charity dedicated exclusively to protecting ocean wildlife and their homes. The Australian Marine Conservation Society is an independent charity. The Patron of the Australian Marine Conservation Society is author

Tim Winton Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the ...

Campaigns

The key focus of AMCS is to create large marine national parks (marine sanctuaries), sustainable fisheries and protect and recover threatened ocean wildlife, such as sharks, seals and whales. AMCS also works to protect Australia's coasts from inappropriate development, including along the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

Fight For Our Reef

AMCS has worked to protect the

for many years from threats such as industrialisation, port development, coral mining and dumping. Today, AMCS focuses on saving the Great Barrier Reef from climate change after two mass coral bleaching events affected half of all shallow water corals in 2016 and 2017. The AMPTO and tourism operators in North Queensland work with AMCS to represent the voices of tourism employees and their reliance on a healthy Great Barrier Reef for employment. AMCS also works to improve the laws and regulations around water quality and water pollution in Queensland. Chemicals, sediment and fertilisers wash away into Great Barrier Reef waters and this has detrimental effects on corals and sea grass beds. In 2019, AMCS worked on tightening water pollution regulations in Queensland and new laws came into effect in December, 2019.

Whaling

Ending

whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...

has been a key focus for the AMCS since the 1970s. AMCS worked on a global campaign in the 1980s that led to the world's first global ban on commercial whaling. In 1982 the

International Whaling Commission The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is a specialised regional fishery management organisation, established under the terms of the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) to "provide for the proper conservation ...

(IWC) put a hold on commercial whaling of all whale species and populations. This moratorium came into effect in 1985 and is a ban that remains in place today. Representatives from AMCS attend the IWC every two years and work with other NGOs such as

International Fund for Animal Welfare International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

and

Humane Society International Humane World for Animals, formerly called Humane Society International (HSI) was founded in 1991 as the international division of The Humane Society of the United States. HSI expanded the HSUS's activities into Central and South America, Afr ...

for anti-whaling, pro-conservation outcomes. Despite a global ban on commercial whaling, Japan found a loophole and continued to hunt whales under the guise of "scientific purposes" in the Southern Ocean. Pressure from AMCS's advocacy work led to Australia taking Japan to court in 2013 over Japan's governments claims that its Antarctic whaling program was for "scientific purposes". The

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

issued a binding ruling in March 2014 that Japan's Antarctic whaling program broke international law and had to immediately stop. Japan did not hunt whales for a year after this ruling.

Key Achievements

Prevented mining on the Great Barrier Reef

Known then as the Queensland Littoral Society, the AMCS contested and defeated a proposal to mine limestone on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in the 1960s. The organisation then went on to lead the public campaign to protect the Reef from mining and oil exploration.

Notable Staff

Tooni Mahto

Tooni Mahto is a marine biologist who worked at the BBC prior to moving to Australia.

Imogen Zethoven AO

Imogen Zethoven was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for service to conservation and the environment.

Felicity "Flic" Wishart

Felicity Wishart's last campaign was Fight for the Reef on behalf of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, where she fought against

environmental threats to the Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest reef systems, stretching along the East coast of Australia from the northern tip down at Cape York to the town of Bundaberg, is composed of roughly 2,900 individual reefs and 940 islands and cays ...

, in particular coal industry development in the

Galilee Basin The Galilee Basin is a large inland geological basin in the western Queensland region of Australia. The Galilee Basin is part of a larger Carboniferous to Mid-Triassic basin system that contains the Cooper Basin, situated towards the south-west ...

. In June 2017, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority announced that Reef No. 18-022 about 50 kilometres (31 mi) north-east of

Hinchinbrook Island Hinchinbrook Island (or Pouandai to the Biyaygiri people) is an island in the Cassowary Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It lies east of Cardwell, Queensland, Cardwell and north of Lucinda, Queensland, Lucinda, separated from the north-eas ...

had been named Felicity Wishart Reef in her honour.

References

{{reflist Environmental organisations based in Australia 1965 establishments in Australia Marine conservation organizations