Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)We obtain a complete group classification of the Lie point symmetries of nonlinear Poisson equations on generic (pseudo) Riemannian manifolds M. Using this result we study their Noether symmetries and establish the respective conservation laws. It is shown that the projection of the Lie point symmetries on M are special subgroups of the conformal group of M. In particular, if the scalar curvature of M vanishes, the projection on M of the Lie point symmetry group of the Poisson equation with critical nonlinearity is the conformal group of the manifold. We illustrate our results by applying them to the Thurston geometries. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.2494872913Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)