The AKF's mission is to be a highly credible, respected and compassionate international scientific organisation which will diminish the threat to the survival of koalas and be an example so as to increase the consciousness of all global citizens and enable them to reverse the rapid degeneration of all the world's flora and fauna. Koalas in the wild face a series of threats to their continued survival mostly stemming from destruction of their habitat for human uses and associated threats like cars, dogs and disease. The continued survivial of the species depends on the retention and effective management of suitable habitat to support koalas in the wild. The long-term future of the species cannot be guaranteed in captivity. In addition, most of the koala's remaining habitat occurs on privately owned land much of which is 'prime real estate'.
Humans compete with koalas for land use throughout much of the koala's range.
It is a growing database showing koala habitat at a high resolution on digitally produced maps within local authority boundaries throughout eastern Australia. The Koala Habitat Atlas has been designed to assist land-use planners by providing much needed information on the occurrence and relative importance of suitable koala habitat so that informed and effective decisions on koala habitat conservation and management can be made. The project seeks to identify which trees are preferentially used by koalas and to identify and rank koala habitat on a shire by shire basis. Approximately two million dollars has been allocated to research and conservation projects by the AKF since its inception in 1986. This provides a scientific base of information on which to make good management decisions for koala conservation.