City report · Sri Lanka
Kandy Air quality today
Air quality in Kandy currently reads AQI 30 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 30
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 5.1
- tree cover
- 74.4%
- trees in this area
- 230K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Kandy, Sri Lanka (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 1, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Kandy · AQI 30 (Good)
Kandy's tree count comes to 230,462 trees across 12.39 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Kandy today: AQI 30, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 20:30 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
5.1
PM10
5.1
NO₂
10.7
O₃
23.0
SO₂
1.6
CO
1325.0
- 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 Kandy's daily AQI at 35 on average, from 23 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 77 on Nov 4.
Where Kandy stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Kandy: Healthy tree cover
74.4% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.39 km² of land.
Trees in this area
230,462
Target trees
230,462
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Kandy lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Kandy has lost about 543 hectares of forest (about 760 football pitches): 2.1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (92%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from January 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km south of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 543 haabout 760 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 2.1%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 499 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2004, when about 68 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 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2002 | 17 ha | 2 ha | 19 ha |
| 2003 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 9 ha |
| 2004 | 66 ha | 2 ha | 68 ha |
| 2005 | 24 ha | 2 ha | 26 ha |
| 2006 | 34 ha | under 1 ha | 35 ha |
| 2007 | 29 ha | under 1 ha | 30 ha |
| 2008 | 22 ha | 1 ha | 24 ha |
| 2009 | 32 ha | 2 ha | 34 ha |
| 2010 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2011 | 49 ha | 2 ha | 51 ha |
| 2012 | 38 ha | 2 ha | 40 ha |
| 2013 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2014 | 15 ha | under 1 ha | 16 ha |
| 2015 | 7 ha | 13 ha | 20 ha |
| 2016 | 21 ha | 3 ha | 24 ha |
| 2017 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2018 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2019 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2020 | 18 ha | 2 ha | 20 ha |
| 2021 | 8 ha | 4 ha | 13 ha |
| 2022 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2023 | 14 ha | under 1 ha | 15 ha |
| 2024 | 21 ha | under 1 ha | 22 ha |
| 2025 | 19 ha | under 1 ha | 20 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Kandy?
- Towns and roadscleared for good62% · 338 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good29% · 160 ha
- Loggingcan grow back4.5% · 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
- 29,300 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 29,000 ha
- Overall change
- −229 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kandy stayed about the same size, at about 29,000 hectares: new forest grew on about 45 hectares, and about 274 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 Kandy
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia97.9 km
Sri Lanka
- Tree cover
- 29%
- Air quality
- 91
- Trincomalee157.4 km
Sri Lanka
- Tree cover
- 40%
- Air quality
- 25
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Frequently asked
Questions about Kandy
What is the air quality (AQI) in Kandy right now?
The latest reading for Kandy shows an AQI of 30 (Good), observed Nov 10, 20:30 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 Kandy today?
At AQI 30 (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 Kandy been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Kandy's daily AQI at 35 on average, from 23 on Nov 10 to an hourly peak of 77 on Nov 4. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Kandy lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Kandy has lost about 543 hectares of forest (about 760 football pitches): 2.1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (92%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kandy stayed about the same size, at about 29,000 hectares: new forest grew on about 45 hectares, and about 274 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Kandy?
Kandy has an estimated 230,462 trees across the 12.39 km² of land measured — 74.4% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Kandy need?
Kandy has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Kandy'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 Kandy; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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