Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FoE EWNI) is one of the 75 national groups that make up the Friends of the Earth network of environmental organisations. The first Friends of the Earth group was founded in San Francisco in 1969, and the UK branch was formed in 1971. They are an environmentalist organisation and have had campaigns such as opposing an open cast copper mine in Snowdonia National Park and work to save endangered species, such as the 'Save the Whale' campaign. FoE also campaigned early on for safe energy, and they opposed nuclear power and supported renewable energy. This developed into work on climate change which is now a core theme for the FoE EWNI branch. FoE are a registered charity and operate under a trust. Their registered charity number is 281681.