Wedge Island

Wedge Island is home to several hundred shacks built illegally on crown land. It is located at an idyllic spot off the windswept Indian Ocean on the coast of Western Australia.

The people there live a simple life and visitors come for a secluded beach holiday. The community's remoteness has protected it from being disturbed. But all that could change.

The new Indian Ocean Drive highway is due to be finished, making the land far more valuable. The state government has said all shack leases will expire upon the highway's completion and that they will be demolished.

The land has been designated for development - some of it, potentially, for eco-tourism - but the islanders say that they are the best custodians of the land.

This is a portrait of life lived on the very edge of the Australian continent - and a lifestyle that's on the edge of its existence.

Wedge Island is the fifth and final part in this year's Global Perspective documentary series. It was made in partnership with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

click Find out more about the Global Perspective documentary series.

First broadcast on BBC World Service 21 May 2010.