City report · Kenya
Malindi Air quality today
Air quality in Malindi currently reads AQI 37 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 37
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 6.5
- tree cover
- 32.0%
- trees in this area
- 82.2K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Malindi, Kenya (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 16, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Malindi · AQI 37 (Good)
Malindi's tree count comes to 82,234 trees across 10.28 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Malindi today: AQI 37, 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
6.5
PM10
10.2
NO₂
1.0
O₃
30.0
SO₂
0.4
CO
142.0
- 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 Malindi's daily AQI at 47 on average, from 41 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 55 on Nov 4.
Where Malindi stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Malindi: Healthy tree cover
32.0% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 10.28 km² of land.
Trees in this area
82,234
Target trees
82,234
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Malindi lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Malindi has lost about 672 hectares of forest (about 940 football pitches): 31% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (over 99%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from December 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km southwest of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 672 haabout 940 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 31%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 672 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2006, when about 131 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 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2002 | 25 ha | under 1 ha | 25 ha |
| 2003 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2004 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2005 | 14 ha | under 1 ha | 14 ha |
| 2006 | 131 ha | under 1 ha | 131 ha |
| 2007 | 13 ha | under 1 ha | 14 ha |
| 2008 | 64 ha | under 1 ha | 64 ha |
| 2009 | 54 ha | under 1 ha | 54 ha |
| 2010 | 121 ha | under 1 ha | 121 ha |
| 2011 | 18 ha | under 1 ha | 18 ha |
| 2012 | 18 ha | under 1 ha | 18 ha |
| 2013 | 15 ha | under 1 ha | 15 ha |
| 2014 | 40 ha | under 1 ha | 40 ha |
| 2015 | 25 ha | under 1 ha | 25 ha |
| 2016 | 24 ha | under 1 ha | 24 ha |
| 2017 | 22 ha | under 1 ha | 22 ha |
| 2018 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2019 | 6 ha | under 1 ha | 6 ha |
| 2020 | 25 ha | under 1 ha | 25 ha |
| 2021 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2022 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2023 | 7 ha | under 1 ha | 7 ha |
| 2024 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2025 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Malindi?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good75% · 506 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good25% · 166 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
- 2,220 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 1,020 ha
- Overall change
- −1,190 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Malindi shrank from about 2,220 hectares to 1,020 hectares, a net loss of about 1,190 hectares (−54%). New forest grew on about 37 hectares, but 1,230 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 Malindi
What is the air quality (AQI) in Malindi right now?
The latest reading for Malindi shows an AQI of 37 (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 Malindi today?
At AQI 37 (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 Malindi been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Malindi's daily AQI at 47 on average, from 41 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 55 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 Malindi lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Malindi has lost about 672 hectares of forest (about 940 football pitches): 31% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (over 99%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Malindi shrank from about 2,220 hectares to 1,020 hectares, a net loss of about 1,190 hectares (−54%). New forest grew on about 37 hectares, but 1,230 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Malindi?
Malindi has an estimated 82,234 trees across the 10.28 km² of land measured — 32.0% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Malindi need?
Malindi has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Malindi'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 Malindi; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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