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Guna Yala

© Joel Redman

Guna Yala is an indigenous province in northeast Panama. Guna Yala is home to the indigenous group known as the Gunas. Its capital is El Porvenir. It is bounded on the north by the Caribbean Sea, on the south by the Darién Province and Embera Wounaan, on the east by Colombia, and on the west by the province of Colón.

Guna communities have long been recognised for protecting the forests along their coastline; despite significant threats from farming and industrial logging, they are proven protectors of their ancestral forests.

Today they face uncertainty over the sea that surrounds their island homes. Increasing encroachment by luxury vessels and at times irresponsible tourism threatens the long term viability of their reefs. Without the support of the government of Panama and clear rights, they face an increasingly bitter struggle to protect the marine biodiversity in these waters.

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