In A remote part of Panama, where motorised canoe is the main mode of transport, a pristine asphalt road portends the arrival of a project unwanted by many locals. In February the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) approved a $1.6bn project that will see the Indio river dammed, flooding the lands of 630 families who live in the basin. In May, dozens of farmers waving Panamanian flags took to the Indio in their canoes to protest against the decision. “This land is our heritage and our livelihood,” says Olegario Cedeño, a coffee and plantain farmer. “They haven’t given us any chance to debate this project.”