Country

Philippines: 9 ecoregions. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

Every one of the nine ecoregions touching the Philippines is tropical forest, and eight are tropical moist broadleaf forest split island by island: Luzon rain forests and Luzon montane rain forests, Mindanao-Eastern Visayas and Mindanao montane rain forests, plus distinct rain forests on Palawan, Mindoro, Greater Negros-Panay, and the Sulu Archipelago. The one departure is the Luzon tropical pine forests of the northern highlands, a tropical coniferous pocket. The pattern says something useful: this is a warm, humid archipelago where elevation, not latitude, is the main gardening variable. Lowland gardens work with heat- and humidity-loving tropical plants year round, while montane areas support the cooler-growing palette hinted at by those pine forests. Palawan's rain forests stand out as Half Protected, the strongest tier in the set.