City report · Zimbabwe
Kwekwe Air quality today
Air quality in Kwekwe currently reads AQI 24 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 24
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 3.8
- tree cover
- 12.6%
- trees in this area
- 39.6K
- more trees needed
- 54.7K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Kwekwe, Zimbabwe (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 17, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Kwekwe · AQI 24 (Good)
Kwekwe's tree count comes to 39,584 trees across 12.57 km², 17 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 54,664 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Kwekwe today: AQI 24, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 13:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 185 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 185 km, e.g. Chitungwiza and Harare
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
3.8
PM10
3.9
NO₂
0.3
O₃
101.0
SO₂
1.0
CO
92.0
- 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 Kwekwe's daily AQI at 44 on average, from 21 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 85 on Nov 8.
Where Kwekwe stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Kwekwe: Critically low
12.6% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
39,584
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
54,664
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,203 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Kwekwe lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Kwekwe has lost about 71 hectares of forest (about 100 football pitches): 6.8% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (98%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from September 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 6 km northwest of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 71 haabout 100 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 6.8%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 70 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2025, when about 18 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2002 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2003 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2006 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2007 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2010 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2011 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2012 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2013 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2014 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2015 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2016 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2017 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2018 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2019 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2020 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2021 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2022 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2023 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2024 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2025 | 17 ha | under 1 ha | 18 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Kwekwe?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good82% · 58 ha
- Mining and energycleared for good14% · 10 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good2% · 1 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
- 7,700 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 7,490 ha
- Overall change
- −210 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kwekwe shrank from about 7,700 hectares to 7,490 hectares, a net loss of about 210 hectares (−2.7%). New forest grew on about 147 hectares, but 357 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 Kwekwe
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Chitungwiza167.4 km
Zimbabwe
- Tree cover
- 5%
- Air quality
- 41
- Harare179.0 km
Zimbabwe
- Tree cover
- 18%
- Air quality
- 41
- Bulawayo187.4 km
Zimbabwe
- Tree cover
- 14%
- Air quality
- 30
- Mutare300.4 km
Zimbabwe
- Tree cover
- 37%
- Air quality
- 57
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Frequently asked
Questions about Kwekwe
What is the air quality (AQI) in Kwekwe right now?
The latest reading for Kwekwe shows an AQI of 24 (Good), observed Nov 11, 13:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 185 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Kwekwe today?
At AQI 24 (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 Kwekwe been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Kwekwe's daily AQI at 44 on average, from 21 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 85 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 Kwekwe lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Kwekwe has lost about 71 hectares of forest (about 100 football pitches): 6.8% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (98%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Kwekwe shrank from about 7,700 hectares to 7,490 hectares, a net loss of about 210 hectares (−2.7%). New forest grew on about 147 hectares, but 357 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Kwekwe?
Kwekwe has an estimated 39,584 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 12.6% tree cover, 17 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Kwekwe need?
Kwekwe needs roughly 54,664 more trees to close a 17-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,203 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Kwekwe'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 Kwekwe; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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