City report · Botswana
Francistown Air quality today
Air quality in Francistown currently reads AQI 36 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 36
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 6.0
- tree cover
- 24.5%
- trees in this area
- 77.0K
- more trees needed
- 17.3K
Measured across a 2 km radius around C.I.A. Extension, Francistown, Botswana (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Oct 25, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Francistown · AQI 36 (Good)
Francistown's tree count comes to 76,969 trees across 12.57 km², 5 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 17,279 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Francistown today: AQI 36, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 22:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Model estimate · no ground station nearby
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
6.0
PM10
6.6
NO₂
2.9
O₃
66.0
SO₂
1.7
CO
185.0
- Outdoor exercise
- A good day to be active outside
- Windows
- Open them to air the house
- Mask
- Not needed
- Air purifier
- Not needed
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Francistown's daily AQI at 37 on average, from 15 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 83 on Nov 8.
Where Francistown stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Francistown: Below target
24.5% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
76,969
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
17,279
CO₂ if planted / yr
380.1 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Francistown lost?
There was very little forest around Francistown in 2000, about 31 hectares, and about 26 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
The worst year was 2001, when about 17 hectares of forest were lost.
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 16 ha | 1 ha | 17 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2008 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2014 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2025 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Francistown?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good78% · 20 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good18% · 5 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown4.2% · 1 ha
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
- 175 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 179 ha
- Overall change
- +4 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Francistown stayed about the same size, at about 179 hectares: new forest grew on about 12 hectares, and about 8 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 Francistown
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Bulawayo159.3 km
Zimbabwe
- Tree cover
- 14%
- Air quality
- 30
- Gweru307.5 km
Zimbabwe
- Tree cover
- 15%
- Air quality
- 37
- Kwekwe346.7 km
Zimbabwe
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 24
- Polokwane364.7 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 22%
- Air quality
- 58
- Thohoyandou364.8 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 42%
- Air quality
- 75
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Frequently asked
Questions about Francistown
What is the air quality (AQI) in Francistown right now?
The latest reading for Francistown shows an AQI of 36 (Good), observed Nov 10, 22:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Francistown today?
At AQI 36 (Good): a good day to be active outside. Windows: open them to air the house. Masks: not needed. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Francistown been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Francistown's daily AQI at 37 on average, from 15 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 83 on Nov 8. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Francistown lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Francistown in 2000, about 31 hectares, and about 26 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Francistown stayed about the same size, at about 179 hectares: new forest grew on about 12 hectares, and about 8 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Francistown?
Francistown has an estimated 76,969 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 24.5% tree cover, 5 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Francistown need?
Francistown needs roughly 17,279 more trees to close a 5-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 380.1 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Francistown's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality comes from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where one reports nearby, and otherwise, as here, from the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, which may differ from street-level monitors. 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 C.I.A. Extension; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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