The Dulungan or Rhabdotorrhinus waldeni is one of two most threatened hornbills in the world. They can only be found in Negros and Panay. On Panay, they live in forested areas along a mountainous spine on the island: the Central Panay Mountain Range (CPMR) Key Biodiversity Area. CPMR straddles all four provinces of Panay.

Illustrated here are a male and female Dulungan. They both have dark bodies, but the males have predominantly red heads. There are only an estimated 1,000 to 2,500 dulungan left in the wild, so we need to protect and restore their habitats!

Panay island is where ornithologist David Quimpo and the Haribon Foundation has worked with local communities for several years. Together they worked with the towns of Valderrama and Sebaste in Antique to declare portions of lowland forest as Protection Forest.

As you can see in the map below, there are two Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) in Panay: Central Panay Mountains (CPM) and the Northwest Panay Peninsula. These are areas where forests and unique biodiversity exist. But policies and planning need to be enacted so that these areas can continue to thrive and provide.

The work to get the entire Central Panay Mountain Range protected by local communities is long and difficult, but the work must continue.

The province of Antique declared Dulungan Month for every August since 2020. Support organizations such as Philippine Initiative for Environmental Conservation – PhilinCon and the Haribon Foundation to help conserve Dulungan and the forests we share with them. Help spread awareness every Dulungan Month in August, and beyond!