City report · Madagascar
Mahajanga Air quality today
Air quality in Mahajanga currently reads AQI 38 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 38
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 5.7
- tree cover
- 13.4%
- trees in this area
- 31.8K
- more trees needed
- 39.4K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Mahahanga Tanana, Mahajanga, Madagascar (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 19, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Mahajanga · AQI 38 (Good)
Mahajanga's tree count comes to 31,826 trees across 9.5 km² of land, 17 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 39,426 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Mahajanga today: AQI 38, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 21:00 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
5.7
PM10
9.0
NO₂
1.2
O₃
45.0
SO₂
0.5
CO
111.0
- 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 Mahajanga's daily AQI at 41 on average, from 30 on Nov 4 to an hourly peak of 68 on Nov 8.
Where Mahajanga stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Mahajanga: Critically low
13.4% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 9.5 km² of land.
Trees in this area
31,826
Target trees
71,252
More trees needed
39,426
CO₂ if planted / yr
867.4 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Mahajanga lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Mahajanga has lost about 27 hectares of forest (about 37 football pitches): 14% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (92%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 27 haabout 37 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 14%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 25 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2009, when about 4 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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2009 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 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 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2016 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2017 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2018 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2019 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2020 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2021 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 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 Mahajanga?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good71% · 19 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good21% · 6 ha
- Storms, floods and other natural causescan grow back3.8% · 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
- 433 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 457 ha
- Overall change
- +24 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Mahajanga grew from about 433 hectares to 457 hectares, a net gain of about 24 hectares (+5.5%). New forest grew on about 59 hectares, while 35 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 Mahajanga
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Mamoudzou346.7 km
Mayotte
- Tree cover
- 36%
- Air quality
- 46
- Moutsamoudou445.7 km
Comoros
- Tree cover
- 70%
- Air quality
- 36
- Fomboni471.6 km
Comoros
- Tree cover
- 61%
- Air quality
- 25
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Frequently asked
Questions about Mahajanga
What is the air quality (AQI) in Mahajanga right now?
The latest reading for Mahajanga shows an AQI of 38 (Good), observed Nov 10, 21:00 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 Mahajanga today?
At AQI 38 (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 Mahajanga been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Mahajanga's daily AQI at 41 on average, from 30 on Nov 4 to an hourly peak of 68 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 Mahajanga lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Mahajanga has lost about 27 hectares of forest (about 37 football pitches): 14% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (92%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Mahajanga grew from about 433 hectares to 457 hectares, a net gain of about 24 hectares (+5.5%). New forest grew on about 59 hectares, while 35 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Mahajanga?
Mahajanga has an estimated 31,826 trees across the 9.5 km² of land measured — 13.4% tree cover, 17 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Mahajanga need?
Mahajanga needs roughly 39,426 more trees to close a 17-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 867.4 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Mahajanga'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 Mahahanga Tanana; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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