Air quality comparison · Cameroon, 278 km apart
Bamenda vs Yaoundé Air quality index (AQI) today
Bamenda has cleaner air than Yaoundé right now: AQI 90 (Moderate) against 98 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Yaoundé averaged AQI 45 against 94, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Yaoundé has lost more forest since 2001. Bamenda has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Bamenda90Yaoundé98
Head to head
Bamenda vs Yaoundé at a glance
Bamenda is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Yaoundé on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Bamenda | Yaoundé | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 90 (better) | 98 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 36.6 | 34.4 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 94 | 45 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 1,300 ha (better) | 6,260 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 20.6% (better) | 9.8% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 29.5K (better) | 63.3K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Bamenda and Yaoundé right now?
Bamenda has cleaner air than Yaoundé right now: AQI 90 (Moderate) against 98 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Bamenda's PM2.5 is about 2.4× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Yaoundé's PM2.5 is about 2.3× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Yaoundé is read from a nearby ground station and Bamenda is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
BamendaYaoundé
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Bamenda: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Yaoundé: Ground station · CAY5/Essos, 2.2 km away · median of 5 stations. Data: OpenAQ · AirQo, Clarity.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Yaoundé averaged AQI 45 against 94, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Bamenda0Yaoundé6
- Average AQI
- Bamenda94Yaoundé45
- Worst day, AQI
- Bamenda110Yaoundé58
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Bamenda | Yaoundé |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 91 | 37 |
| Nov 6 | 88 | 27 |
| Nov 7 | 87 | 43 |
| Nov 8 | 100 | 54 |
| Nov 9 | 110 | 52 |
| Nov 10 | 86 | 58 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Bamenda and Yaoundé today?
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Both are in the same EPA band today (Moderate), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Bamenda and Yaoundé compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Bamenda's air is cleaner than 25% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Yaoundé's is cleaner than 22%. Within Cameroon, that is 27% and 20% of its 16 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Bamenda
- Beats 25%
- Yaoundé
- Beats 22%
More tree cover than…
- Bamenda
- Beats 48%
- Yaoundé
- Beats 20%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Bamenda or Yaoundé?
Yaoundé has lost more: about 6,260 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1,300 ha around Bamenda. 6,210 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2020, with 209 ha lost.
Worst year: 2008, with 869 ha lost.
| Bamenda | Yaoundé | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 1,300 ha (better) | 6,260 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 11% (better) | 39% |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 789 ha (better) | 6,210 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Slowing down | Slowing down |
| Main known cause | Logging (39%) | Towns and roads (97%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Bamenda
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southeast of the city center.
Yaoundé
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Bamenda or Yaoundé?
Bamenda has more tree cover: 20.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.8% around Yaoundé, or about 64,717 trees against 30,695.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Bamenda | Yaoundé | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 64.7K (better) | 30.7K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 29.5K (better) | 63.3K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.4M kg (better) | 675K kg |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Bamenda vs Yaoundé: your questions answered
Is Bamenda cleaner than Yaoundé?
On air quality, yes, right now: Bamenda reads AQI 90 against 98, a gap of 8 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Yaoundé averaged AQI 45 against 94, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Bamenda and Yaoundé today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Bamenda reads AQI 90 and Yaoundé reads AQI 98.
Which has lost more forest, Bamenda or Yaoundé?
Yaoundé has lost more: about 6,260 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 1,300 ha around Bamenda. 6,210 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Bamenda or Yaoundé?
Bamenda has more tree cover: 20.6% of the land within 2 km of its center against 9.8% around Yaoundé, or about 64,717 trees against 30,695. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Bamenda and Yaoundé need?
Bamenda needs about 29,531 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Yaoundé about 63,270 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Bamenda and Yaoundé measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Yaoundé is read from a nearby ground station and Bamenda is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Bamenda vs Yaoundé comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Oct 24, 2026 and Apr 20, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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