Rottnest Island: The Quokkas and the Island Paradise an Hour from Perth

Rottnest Island, the A-class nature reserve 19 kilometres off the Perth coast whose car-free policy, the sandy beaches with the clearest water of any island in the Perth vicinity, and the quokka population that has made the island internationally famous through the social media selfie phenomenon that the friendly marsupials' willingness to approach humans has created, provides Perth with the island paradise that the 45-minute ferry from Fremantle or the 90-minute ferry from the CBD delivers to the million-plus annual visitors who make Rottnest the most visited tourist destination in Western Australia. The island's combination of the natural heritage, the accessible beaches, and the distinctive holiday culture of the cycling and walking that the absence of private cars creates, provides the unique day trip and holiday destination that Perth's coastal geography uniquely offers among Australian capital cities.

The quokka, the small wallaby whose rotund form and apparent expression of contentment have made it the 'world's happiest animal' in the social media taxonomy that the internet has applied to the Rottnest quokka's photogenic qualities, has generated the global awareness of Rottnest Island through the billions of views that the quokka selfie format has achieved in the social media age. The quokka population on Rottnest, estimated at 10,000-12,000 individuals and representing one of the quokka's last significant natural populations, has survived the loss of the mainland populations to foxes and cats in the island's predator-free environment.

The beaches of Rottnest, from the settlement's Thomson Bay to the remote beaches of the western end accessible only on foot or by the island bus tour, provide the swimming and snorkelling environments that the marine protected area status maintains in the ecological condition that the clear water and the coral reefs sustain. The snorkelling at the island's rocky reefs provides the reef fish and the invertebrate diversity that the marine park's protection has maintained in the accessible form that the snorkeller without diving qualifications can reach in the knee-deep water at the reef edge.

The Rottnest Island Authority's management of the island, balancing the 1 million annual visitor load with the conservation of the quokka habitat and the marine park that the island's nature reserve status requires, creates the management challenge of one of Australia's most visited nature reserves. The visitor cap that the Authority has imposed at peak times and the booking system that manages the accommodation and the day visitor numbers provide the demand management tools that maintain the island's quality in the face of the visitor pressure that the quokka phenomenon and the island's proximity to Perth create.

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