Wadjemup Bidi (Rottnest Island) is one of Western Australia’s tourism icons. The social and environmental attributes and associated values of the Island are immense and their complexity and richness are rare. To cater to more than 500,000 visitors annually, the Rottnest Island Authority  recognised the need for a walk trail that allows access to the Island’s many beautiful natural features and its wealth of cultural history, but also allows for the Island to be managed sustainably. 

The concept was developed through an Indigenous lead collaboration of professional and academic landscape architecture consultants.  This approach to design established the design’s core design driver’s relationship between the environment and its multiple histories so the visitor can openly appreciate and make sense of them. It is hoped that through the Coastal Walk Trail, the visitor will experience an attitudinal shift towards an understanding of the cross-cultural values of the land. 

A network of three trail systems is proposed to let the landscape tell the story of “living the dreaming”.  One trail runs straight down the centre spine of the Island; a second circumnavigates the Island; and a third weaves in and out of the inland hills and lakes.