City report · Cameroon
Douala Air quality today
Air quality in Douala currently reads AQI 70 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 70
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 19.2
- tree cover
- 4.2%
- trees in this area
- 13.1K
- more trees needed
- 80.6K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Akwa II, Douala, Cameroon (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Apr 20, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Douala · AQI 70 (Moderate)
Douala's tree count comes to 13,129 trees across 12.51 km² of land, 26 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 80,648 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Douala today: AQI 70, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 17:03 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · CAD2/Newbell, 1.3 km away · median of 4 stations
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
19.2
PM10
—
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · Clarity
- Outdoor exercise
- 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
- Mask
- Not needed for most people
- Air purifier
- Worth running if you are sensitive
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Douala's daily AQI at 58 on average, from 42 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 97 on Nov 5.
Where Douala stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Douala: Critically low
4.2% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.51 km² of land.
Trees in this area
13,129
Target trees
93,777
More trees needed
80,648
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,774 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Douala lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Douala has lost about 565 hectares of forest (about 790 football pitches): 6.6% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (93%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2018: satellite photo from January 2018 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km north of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 565 haabout 790 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 6.6%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 528 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2010, when about 162 hectares of forest were lost.
Douala's full deforestation reportHectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 23 ha | under 1 ha | 24 ha |
| 2002 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2003 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2005 | 18 ha | 3 ha | 20 ha |
| 2006 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2007 | 24 ha | under 1 ha | 24 ha |
| 2008 | 16 ha | 1 ha | 18 ha |
| 2009 | 12 ha | 1 ha | 14 ha |
| 2010 | 158 ha | 4 ha | 162 ha |
| 2011 | 65 ha | 1 ha | 66 ha |
| 2012 | 72 ha | under 1 ha | 73 ha |
| 2013 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2014 | 23 ha | 2 ha | 25 ha |
| 2015 | 13 ha | under 1 ha | 13 ha |
| 2016 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2017 | 16 ha | under 1 ha | 17 ha |
| 2018 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2019 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2020 | 7 ha | 4 ha | 11 ha |
| 2021 | 12 ha | 6 ha | 18 ha |
| 2022 | 3 ha | 2 ha | 5 ha |
| 2023 | 9 ha | 5 ha | 13 ha |
| 2024 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2025 | 17 ha | 4 ha | 21 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Douala?
- Towns and roadscleared for good86% · 488 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good7.1% · 40 ha
- Storms, floods and other natural causescan grow back4.3% · 24 ha
Also: unknown causes.
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 8,780 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 7,930 ha
- Overall change
- −851 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Douala shrank from about 8,780 hectares to 7,930 hectares, a net loss of about 851 hectares (−9.7%). New forest grew on about 62 hectares, but 913 hectares were lost.
These 2000 and 2020 maps, from the University of Maryland, count any land with trees taller than 5 m as forest, including plantations and orchards. Forest that was cut or burned and had grown back by 2020 counts in both years, so the loss here is smaller than the yearly figures.
These figures cover everything within 10 km of the city center, a wider area than the report above, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Source: Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA, Global Forest Change (GFC-2025-v1.13); causes: WRI/Google DeepMind drivers of forest loss; both CC BY 4.0, summed by Airleaf for each area. Forest gained and lost 2000–2020: Potapov et al. 2022, UMD GLAD Global Land Cover and Land Use Change, CC BY 4.0. Images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. How it's measured
In the same region
Measured cities near Douala
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Edéa55.0 km
Cameroon
- Tree cover
- 58%
- Air quality
- 54
- Limbe55.3 km
Cameroon
- Tree cover
- 40%
- Air quality
- 51
- Kumba71.3 km
Cameroon
- Tree cover
- 27%
- Air quality
- 66
- Nkongsamba104.1 km
Cameroon
- Tree cover
- 52%
- Air quality
- 152
- Malabo107.4 km
Equatorial Guinea
- Tree cover
- 9%
- Air quality
- 36
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Frequently asked
Questions about Douala
What is the air quality (AQI) in Douala right now?
The latest reading for Douala shows an AQI of 70 (Moderate), measured Nov 11, 17:03 local time by 4 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is CAD2/Newbell, 1.3 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Douala today?
At AQI 70 (Moderate): 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. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Douala been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Douala's daily AQI at 58 on average, from 42 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 97 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Douala lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Douala has lost about 565 hectares of forest (about 790 football pitches): 6.6% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (93%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Douala shrank from about 8,780 hectares to 7,930 hectares, a net loss of about 851 hectares (−9.7%). New forest grew on about 62 hectares, but 913 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Douala?
Douala has an estimated 13,129 trees across the 12.51 km² of land measured — 4.2% tree cover, 26 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Douala need?
Douala needs roughly 80,648 more trees to close a 26-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,774 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Douala's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Akwa II, via OpenAQ; the 7-day trend is the Open-Meteo / CAMS model's estimate. Tree cover is measured from Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search satellite imagery at 10 m detail across a 2 km radius around Akwa II; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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