The Sinking Island

Gardi Islands in Panama are condemned to disappear underwater. One thousand inhabitants of one of these islands are waiting to be transferred to a new settlement on the mainland. They will become climate refugees.

Gardi Islands are condemned to disappear underwater. The rise in sea level caused by climate change will devour these 5 small Caribbean islands in Panama in a few years. More than a thousand inhabitants of one of these islands, Gardi Sugdub, members of the Kuna indigenous community, are waiting to be transferred to a new settlement on the mainland. The government of Panama has built a neighborhood with 300 houses and a school, to which they should start moving at the beginning of 2024. The day that happens, the Kuna of Gardi Sugdub will become climate refugees.

They are the first in this part of the world, but the same fate awaits the entire Kuna Yala archipelago, with more than 70 inhabited islands. The Kuna arrived at this location 300 years ago, escaping the violence and diseases brought by the Spanish colonizers. Today, the entire Kuna community is threatened by the same sea that long ago gave them shelter.

Extra information:
This documentary project aims to tell the case of the Kuna indigenous people facing the sea level rise caused by climate change and has two main objectives. The first one, to report the effects on the population of sea level rise by focusing on particular stories that will allow the public to connect with its protagonists and empathize with them. The second objective is to document an extraordinarily and rich culture before a part of its identity disappears when they are transferred to the mainland and stop living on islands. The Kuna indigenous people have always lived in balance with nature. But now they suffer the consequences of the uncontrolled exploitation of the environment by others. The project started in March 2023 and is still under development. The work plan includes continuing to photograph the Kuna of Gardi Sugdub during the process of moving to their new settlement on the mainland during 2024.

This is a collective project created by 2 people: Edu Ponces and Berta Vicente Salas