City report · Rwanda
Musanze Air quality today
Air quality in Musanze currently reads AQI 41 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 41
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 8.1
- tree cover
- 14.8%
- trees in this area
- 46.5K
- more trees needed
- 47.8K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Musanze, Northern, Rwanda (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 3, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Musanze · AQI 41 (Good)
Musanze's tree count comes to 46,496 trees across 12.57 km², 15 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 47,752 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Musanze today: AQI 41, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 13:00 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
8.1
PM10
9.3
NO₂
0.4
O₃
77.0
SO₂
0.4
CO
161.0
- 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 Musanze's daily AQI at 52 on average, from 39 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 89 on Nov 8.
Where Musanze stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Musanze: Critically low
14.8% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
46,496
Target trees
94,248
More trees needed
47,752
CO₂ if planted / yr
1,051 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Musanze lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Musanze has lost about 367 hectares of forest (about 510 football pitches): 3% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (59%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from June 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km west of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 367 haabout 510 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 3%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 217 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
The worst year was 2024, when about 46 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 | 7 ha | 2 ha | 10 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2003 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2005 | 4 ha | under 1 ha | 4 ha |
| 2006 | 1 ha | 3 ha | 4 ha |
| 2007 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2008 | 3 ha | under 1 ha | 3 ha |
| 2009 | 8 ha | 4 ha | 12 ha |
| 2010 | 5 ha | 6 ha | 11 ha |
| 2011 | 4 ha | 3 ha | 7 ha |
| 2012 | 5 ha | 2 ha | 6 ha |
| 2013 | 8 ha | 2 ha | 10 ha |
| 2014 | 17 ha | 5 ha | 22 ha |
| 2015 | 19 ha | 18 ha | 37 ha |
| 2016 | 15 ha | 9 ha | 23 ha |
| 2017 | 6 ha | 3 ha | 9 ha |
| 2018 | 19 ha | 21 ha | 40 ha |
| 2019 | 5 ha | 8 ha | 14 ha |
| 2020 | 20 ha | 7 ha | 27 ha |
| 2021 | 8 ha | 11 ha | 18 ha |
| 2022 | 15 ha | 7 ha | 22 ha |
| 2023 | 11 ha | 4 ha | 15 ha |
| 2024 | 23 ha | 23 ha | 46 ha |
| 2025 | 9 ha | 10 ha | 19 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Musanze?
- Loggingcan grow back36% · 134 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good30% · 112 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good29% · 105 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
- 13,700 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 13,600 ha
- Overall change
- −83 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Musanze stayed about the same size, at about 13,600 hectares: new forest grew on about 291 hectares, and about 375 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 Musanze
What is the air quality (AQI) in Musanze right now?
The latest reading for Musanze shows an AQI of 41 (Good), observed Nov 10, 13:00 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 Musanze today?
At AQI 41 (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 Musanze been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Musanze's daily AQI at 52 on average, from 39 on Nov 6 to an hourly peak of 89 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 Musanze lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Musanze has lost about 367 hectares of forest (about 510 football pitches): 3% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (59%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Musanze stayed about the same size, at about 13,600 hectares: new forest grew on about 291 hectares, and about 375 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Musanze?
Musanze has an estimated 46,496 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 14.8% tree cover, 15 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Musanze need?
Musanze needs roughly 47,752 more trees to close a 15-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 1,051 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Musanze'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 Musanze; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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