Air quality comparison · Cameroon, 53 km apart
Buea vs Douala Air quality index (AQI) today
Buea has cleaner air than Douala right now: AQI 19 (Good) against 77 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Buea averaged AQI 46 against 55, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days. Buea has lost more forest since 2001. Buea has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Buea19Douala77
Head to head
Buea vs Douala at a glance
Buea is ahead on 5 of 6 measures, and Douala on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Buea | Douala | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 19 (better) | 77 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 3.5 (better) | 20.1 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 46 (better) | 55 |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 3,840 ha | 565 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 37.9% (better) | 4.2% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 0 (better) | 80.6K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Buea and Douala right now?
Buea has cleaner air than Douala right now: AQI 19 (Good) against 77 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Douala's PM2.5 is about 1.3× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
BueaDouala
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).
Buea: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Douala: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Buea averaged AQI 46 against 55, 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
- Buea6Douala0
- Average AQI
- Buea46Douala55
- Worst day, AQI
- Buea56Douala62
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Buea | Douala |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 47 | 62 |
| Nov 6 | 33 | 45 |
| Nov 7 | 50 | 60 |
| Nov 8 | 56 | 61 |
| Nov 9 | 55 | 58 |
| Nov 10 | 35 | 42 |
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 Buea and Douala today?
Buea (AQI 19, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Douala (AQI 77, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Exercise outdoors
- Buea
- A good day to be active outside.
- Douala
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
- Buea
- Open them to air the house.
- Douala
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
- Buea
- Not needed.
- Douala
- Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
- Buea
- Not needed.
- Douala
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Buea and Douala compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Buea's air is cleaner than 89% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Douala's is cleaner than 32%. Within Cameroon, that is 100% and 40% of its 16 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Buea
- Beats 89%
- Douala
- Beats 32%
More tree cover than…
- Buea
- Beats 81%
- Douala
- Beats 8%
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, Buea or Douala?
Buea has lost more: about 3,840 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 565 ha around Douala. 3,110 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: 2010, with 576 ha lost.
Worst year: 2010, with 162 ha lost.
| Buea | Douala | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 3,840 ha | 565 ha (better) |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 16% | 6.6% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 3,110 ha | 528 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Slowing down | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (61%) | Towns and roads (86%) |
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.
Buea
2019: satellite photo from December 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northeast of the city center.
Douala
2018: satellite photo from January 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km north of the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Buea or Douala?
Buea has more tree cover: 37.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 4.2% around Douala, or about 119,066 trees against 13,129.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Buea | Douala | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 119K (better) | 13.1K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 0 (better) | 80.6K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 2.6M kg (better) | 289K 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
Buea vs Douala: your questions answered
Is Buea cleaner than Douala?
On air quality, yes, right now: Buea reads AQI 19 against 77, a gap of 58 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Buea averaged AQI 46 against 55, and it was the cleaner of the two on 6 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Buea and Douala today?
In Buea, at AQI 19: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone. In Douala, at AQI 77: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Which has lost more forest, Buea or Douala?
Buea has lost more: about 3,840 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 565 ha around Douala. 3,110 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Buea or Douala?
Buea has more tree cover: 37.9% of the land within 2 km of its center against 4.2% around Douala, or about 119,066 trees against 13,129. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Buea and Douala need?
Buea needs about 0 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Douala about 80,648 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Why can two places 53 km apart read differently?
Air changes over short distances with traffic, industry, wind and hills, and each reading comes from the nearest ground stations or, where there are none, from a regional model. A gap of a few points between neighbors is within normal variation, while a gap that crosses an EPA band is worth noticing.
Are Buea and Douala 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. Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Buea vs Douala 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 (Feb 12, 2026 and Apr 20, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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