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If conservation depends on people, then community partnerships are the lynchpin to conservation success. The contribution of local knowledge, intellectual capital and volunteer labour not only saves project managers invaluable time and money, it fosters ownership and longevity into conservation initiatives well beyond their projected timeframe. Island communities are socially and culturally diverse and driven by a range of motivations. Hence, if we are to deliver conservation programs at scale, we need to better understand and embed these drivers into program design. We present four contemporary case studies on major populated islands in Australia where community collaborations are building the collective impact needed to underpin conservation success. They contain key learnings about community involvement, to help guide managers with future island planning and avoid some pitfalls. Conservation depends on people and community partnerships not only save time and money, but they also foster ownership and longevity of conservation initiatives well beyond their project timeframe. To engage island communities successfully in conservation efforts, we need to understand their motivations and embed these into program design. We present four case studies on major populated islands in Australia where community collaboration is building the collective impact needed for conservation success. They contain key learnings to help guide managers in future island planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]