On the densely packed island of Gardi Sugdub, off the coast of mainland Panama, colorful houses and wooden huts cover nearly the entire landscape almost up to the water’s edge. Between them are unpaved roads, often wet and puddled, lined with just a few trees.

Gardi Sugdub is one of around 50 islands that are home to the Indigenous Guna people, who have built a life devoted to the ocean from fishing to tourism.

Now, the very ocean the Guna people have long relied on poses a threat to their existence, as rapidly warming global temperatures raise the world’s sea levels. The people of Gardi Sugdub are the first of Panama’s island communities asked by the government to move to the mainland in the coming decades.

Read more at the link in @CNN’s bio.

📷: Edu Ponces and Berta Vicente/RUIDO Photo