In what could be a pilot project for more such moves involving coastal communities in Central America, Panama has relocated 1,351 Indigenous Guna islanders to a newly built community on the mainland. Threatened by sea-level rise, the Guna were moved from Gardí Sugdup—one of 350 flat, sandy islands in an archipelago that traces Panama’s northeast Caribbean coast—to Isberyala, a 300-house settlement built close to a nearby mainland port. Panamanians often refer to the coastal region by its old Spanish name, San Blas, though it is officially called Guna Yala after its Indigenous inhabitants. The region is a popular vacation destination, its islands boasting miles of pristine beaches. The Guna have sustained themselves through fishing there for centuries and, in recent decades, tourism, too. But some islands are densely packed, with houses at the water’s edge and flooding on the rise. Gardí Sugdup, for instance, is about... [Log in to read more]