‘We left pieces of our life behind’: Indigenous group flees drowning island53 minutes agoGonzalo Cañada and Agustina LatourretteBBC Mundo, PanamaBBC”If the island sinks, I will sink with it,” Delfino Davies says, his smile not fading for a second.There is silence, except for the swish of his broom across the floor of the small museum he runs documenting the life of his community in Panama, the Guna.”Before, you could hear children shouting… music everywhere, neighbours arguing,” he says, “but now all the sounds have gone”.His community, living on the tiny low-lying island of Gardi Sugdub, is the first in Panama to be relocated because of climate change.The government has said they face “imminent risk” from rising sea levels, which scientists say are likely to render the island uninhabitable by 2050.In June last year, most of the residents abandoned this cramped jumble of wooden and tin homes for rows of neat prefabricated houses on the mainland.The relocation has been praised by some as a model for other groups worldwide whose homes are under threat, but even so, it has divided the community.”My father, my brother, my sisters-in-law and my friends are gone,” says Delfino. “Sometimes the children whose families have stayed cry, wondering where their friends have gone, he says.House after house is padlocked. About 1,000 people left, while about 100 stayed – some because there was not enough room in the new settlement. Others, like Delfino, are not fully convinced climate change is a threat, or simply did not want to leave.He says he wants to stay close to the ocean, where he can fish. “The people that lose their tradition lose their soul. The essence of our culture is on the islands,” he adds.The Guna have lived on Gardi Sugdub since the 19th Century, and even longer on other islands in this archipelago off Panama’s northern coast. They fled from the mainland to escape Spanish conquistadors and, later, epidemics and conflict with other indigenous groups.They are known for their clothes called “molas”, decorated with colourful designs.The Guna currently inhabit more than 40 other islands. Steve Paton, a scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama, says it is “almost a certainty” that most, if not all, of the islands will be submerged before the end of the century.As climate change causes the Earth to heat up, sea levels are rising as glaciers and ice sheets melt and seawater expands as it warms.Scientists warn that hundreds of millions of people living in coastal areas around the world could be at risk by the end of the century.Getty ImagesOn Gardi Sugdub, waves whipped up during the rainy season wash into homes, lapping below the hammocks where families sleep.Mr Paton says, “it is very unlikely that the island will be habitable by 2050, based on current and projected rates of sea level rise”.However, the first discussions about relocation began, more than a decade ago, because of population growth, not climate change.The i
Sab. Feb 8th, 2025
