CARTI SUGTUPU, Panama: On a tiny Caribbean island, people are preparing to pack up and move to escape the rising waters, threatening to engulf their already precarious homes.
Situated amidst the serene, crystalline waters, Carti Sugtupu, a densely populated island off Panama’s northern coastline, scarcely has room to spare, with houses tightly packed together, some extending out into the sea on stilts.
The island is home to an indigenous community of fewer than 2,000 inhabitants, who endure the daily challenges of living without access to clean water or proper sanitation facilities. Their sustenance relies on fishing, cultivating starchy crops like cassava and plantains, traditional textile craftsmanship, and a modest tourism sector.
This existence is far from easy, characterized by sweltering temperatures and a dearth of public amenities, all compounded by the overcrowded conditions on an island roughly the size of five football fields.
Now, the exacerbating effects of climate change-induced sea level rise are poised to intensify their hardships. With homes already regularly inundated, experts predict that Carti Sugtupu, along with dozens of neighbouring islands in the Guna Yala region, will succumb to the encroaching sea by the close of this century. Of these islands, forty-nine are inhabited, each perched only a few feet (less than one meter) above sea level.
“We’ve observed the tide rising,” recounted Magdalena Martinez, a retired teacher at the age of 73, while she embroidered a vibrant toucan onto a “mola” cloth, a traditional Guna art form. “We believe we’re going to submerge; we understand it’s inevitable,” she acknowledged.
Martinez is just one of numerous islanders anticipating a forthcoming relocation to a newly constructed mainland settlement in Panama, facilitated by the government. While this move may safeguard the islanders physically, it places their cultural heritage and way of life in jeopardy.
“This will change our lifestyle quite a bit,” said Martinez. But, she added, “it won’t change our spirit, it won’t change our habits.”
Inescapably, the rising sea levels attributed to climate change will force the abandonment of nearly all the islands in the region by the century’s end, cautioned Steven Paton, a scientist affiliated with the Panama-based Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. —AFP/APP
