The Palawan rain forests blanket the Palawan archipelago at the southwestern edge of the Philippines, taking in Palawan Island itself along with Balabac, Ursula, and the Calamian Islands. Closed broadleaf evergreen forest covers roughly two-thirds of the islands, with lowland stands dominated by dipterocarp trees and accompanied by genera such as Swintonia, Dracontomelon, and Exocarpos, while conifers including Agathis, Dacrydium, and Podocarpus appear in the montane forests above and Euphorbia, Aglaia, Sterculia, and endemic Begonia cling to limestone crevices. The climate is tropical with relatively even temperatures and a pronounced multi-month dry season, the rest of the year bringing reliable rain. Long linked to Borneo and the ancient Sundaland landmass, the islands hold high mammal endemism and serve as a sanctuary for the heavily trafficked Palawan pangolin, with over 80 percent of the ecoregion under some form of protection. For gardeners, several native genera here, among them Begonia, Ficus, Aglaia, and the conifer Podocarpus, are familiar ornamental and landscape plants.
Marker placed inside the RESOLVE 2017 polygon at 9.7°N, 118.6°E.
Climate snapshot for this ecoregion
°C
°F
Current zone range (2011–2040)
13b
Plotwright
CHELSA-derived typical winter month at this ecoregion's bbox grid.
Projected (2041–2070)
13b
Plotwright
Where the CHELSA models say the typical winter month is heading.
Average warming this ecoregion is on track for: +2.7°F by mid-century. SSP3-7.0 (current trajectory) · CHELSA v2.1 bio06 sampled across 10 of 10 points within this ecoregion's bounding box.
At a glance
Dominant biome
Tropical & Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests
Realm
Indomalayan
Approximate area
5,535 sq mi
Conservation tier
Half Protected (Dinerstein NNH 1)
About the tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome
Warm, wet, highly productive forests — including tropical rainforests — with closed canopies, near year-round growing seasons, and the richest terrestrial biodiversity on Earth. Low seasonality and high rainfall sustain dense, layered vegetation from canopy to forest floor.
Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion
No catalog plants intersect this ecoregion's zone range. As the catalog grows to cover this region's climate band, suggestions will surface here.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.
Related ecoregions
Other tropical & subtropical moist broadleaf forests ecoregions to explore: