City report · Lesotho
Maseru Air quality today
Air quality in Maseru currently reads AQI 29 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 29
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 5.2
- tree cover
- 15.8%
- trees in this area
- 49.6K
- more trees needed
- 44.6K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Maseru, Lesotho (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 12, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Maseru · AQI 29 (Good)
Maseru's tree count comes to 49,637 trees across 12.57 km², 14 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 44,611 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Maseru today: AQI 29, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 18:07 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Botsabelo MDR-TB Hospital, 5 km away
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
5.2
PM10
—
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · Clarity
- 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 Maseru's daily AQI at 41 on average, from 20 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 70 on Nov 10.
Where Maseru stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Maseru: Critically low
15.8% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
49,637
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
44,611
CO₂ if planted / yr
981.4 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Maseru lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Maseru has lost about 12 hectares of forest (about 17 football pitches): 9.5% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (83%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 12 haabout 17 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 9.5%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 10 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2019, 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2007 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 1 ha |
| 2017 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 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 Maseru?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good66% · 8 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good18% · 2 ha
- Loggingcan grow back5.9% · under 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
- 922 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 945 ha
- Overall change
- +23 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Maseru grew from about 922 hectares to 945 hectares, a net gain of about 23 hectares (+2.5%). New forest grew on about 36 hectares, while 13 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 Maseru
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Botshabelo73.6 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 6%
- Air quality
- 31
- Butha-Buthe96.4 km
Lesotho
- Tree cover
- 10%
- Air quality
- 19
- Bloemfontein125.1 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 18%
- Air quality
- 39
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Frequently asked
Questions about Maseru
What is the air quality (AQI) in Maseru right now?
The latest reading for Maseru shows an AQI of 29 (Good), measured Nov 11, 18:07 local time by the Botsabelo MDR-TB Hospital ground monitoring station, 5 km away, via OpenAQ. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Maseru today?
At AQI 29 (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 Maseru been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Maseru's daily AQI at 41 on average, from 20 on Nov 7 to an hourly peak of 70 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 Maseru lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Maseru has lost about 12 hectares of forest (about 17 football pitches): 9.5% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (83%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Maseru grew from about 922 hectares to 945 hectares, a net gain of about 23 hectares (+2.5%). New forest grew on about 36 hectares, while 13 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Maseru?
Maseru has an estimated 49,637 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 15.8% tree cover, 14 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Maseru need?
Maseru needs roughly 44,611 more trees to close a 14-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 981.4 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Maseru's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Maseru, via OpenAQ; the 7-day trend is the Open-Meteo / CAMS model's estimate. 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 Maseru; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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