The winter in North America is the dry season in Panama. For Wounaan communities on the Pacific Coast of Panama’s Darien, the dry season means a high-stakes conflict with illegal loggers invading their land and stripping their forests. The 2012 logging season was the worst in history for the three Wounaan communities of Rio Hondo, Platanares and Maje. Hundreds of acres of pristine tropical forest were lost, rivers were destroyed, downstream communities starved and violent conflict left the leader of Platanares dead.