City report · Sierra Leone
Makeni Air quality today
Air quality in Makeni currently reads AQI 114 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
AQI 114
Air quality right now
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 38.6
- tree cover
- 13.1%
- trees in this area
- 41.2K
- more trees needed
- 68.8K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Makeni, Sierra Leone (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of May 20, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Makeni · AQI 114 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups)
Makeni's tree count comes to 41,155 trees across 12.57 km², 22 points below the 35% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 68,801 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Makeni today: AQI 114, Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 06:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 205 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 205 km, e.g. Freetown and Conakry
Health signal
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
PM2.5
38.6
PM10
25.0
NO₂
12.3
O₃
12.0
SO₂
0.6
CO
219.0
- Outdoor exercise
- Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise
- Windows
- Close them to keep the outside air out
- Mask
- Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors
- Air purifier
- Run one, especially in bedrooms
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Makeni's daily AQI at 60 on average, from 46 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 83 on Nov 10.
Where Makeni stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Makeni: Critically low
13.1% tree cover against a 35% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
41,155
Target trees
109,956
More trees needed
68,801
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,514 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Makeni lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Makeni has lost about 7,520 hectares of forest (about 11,000 football pitches): 57% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (66%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km east of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 7,520 haabout 11,000 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 57%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 4,960 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss is slowing down: about 230 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 648 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2015, when about 952 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 | 95 ha | 11 ha | 106 ha |
| 2002 | 12 ha | 2 ha | 15 ha |
| 2003 | 52 ha | 1 ha | 53 ha |
| 2004 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2005 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2006 | 203 ha | 10 ha | 213 ha |
| 2007 | 32 ha | 5 ha | 37 ha |
| 2008 | 40 ha | 13 ha | 53 ha |
| 2009 | 49 ha | 7 ha | 55 ha |
| 2010 | 9 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2011 | 310 ha | 62 ha | 372 ha |
| 2012 | 8 ha | 4 ha | 12 ha |
| 2013 | 400 ha | 300 ha | 700 ha |
| 2014 | 312 ha | 231 ha | 543 ha |
| 2015 | 548 ha | 404 ha | 952 ha |
| 2016 | 370 ha | 226 ha | 596 ha |
| 2017 | 340 ha | 201 ha | 541 ha |
| 2018 | 602 ha | 279 ha | 881 ha |
| 2019 | 333 ha | 159 ha | 492 ha |
| 2020 | 490 ha | 240 ha | 730 ha |
| 2021 | 243 ha | 140 ha | 383 ha |
| 2022 | 126 ha | 70 ha | 196 ha |
| 2023 | 129 ha | 75 ha | 204 ha |
| 2024 | 161 ha | 82 ha | 243 ha |
| 2025 | 83 ha | 42 ha | 125 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Makeni?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good63% · 4,710 ha
- Shifting farmingcan grow back34% · 2,570 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good3.3% · 249 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
- 24,800 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 20,700 ha
- Overall change
- −4,070 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Makeni shrank from about 24,800 hectares to 20,700 hectares, a net loss of about 4,070 hectares (−16%). New forest grew on about 732 hectares, but 4,800 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
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Frequently asked
Questions about Makeni
What is the air quality (AQI) in Makeni right now?
The latest reading for Makeni shows an AQI of 114 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), observed Nov 11, 06:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 205 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Makeni today?
At AQI 114 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups): children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise. Windows: close them to keep the outside air out. Masks: sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Makeni been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Makeni's daily AQI at 60 on average, from 46 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 83 on Nov 10. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Makeni lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Makeni has lost about 7,520 hectares of forest (about 11,000 football pitches): 57% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (66%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Forest loss is slowing down: about 230 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 648 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Makeni shrank from about 24,800 hectares to 20,700 hectares, a net loss of about 4,070 hectares (−16%). New forest grew on about 732 hectares, but 4,800 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Makeni?
Makeni has an estimated 41,155 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 13.1% tree cover, 22 percentage points short of the 35% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Makeni need?
Makeni needs roughly 68,801 more trees to close a 22-point shortfall against its 35% tree-cover target — about 1,514 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Makeni'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 Makeni; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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