City report · Eastern Cape, South Africa
Queenstown Air quality today
Air quality in Queenstown currently reads AQI 33 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 33
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 6.2
- tree cover
- 18.6%
- trees in this area
- 58.3K
- more trees needed
- 35.7K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Komani, South Africa (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Mar 11, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Queenstown · AQI 33 (Good)
Queenstown's tree count comes to 58,317 trees across 12.54 km² of land, 11 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 35,743 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Queenstown today: AQI 33, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 06:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 165 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 2 station cities within 165 km, e.g. Mdantsane and KuGompo City
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
6.2
PM10
8.1
NO₂
6.9
O₃
67.0
SO₂
4.1
CO
138.0
- 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 Queenstown's daily AQI at 20 on average, from 8 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 54 on Nov 6.
Where Queenstown stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Queenstown: Below target
18.6% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.54 km² of land.
Trees in this area
58,317
Target trees
94,060
More trees needed
35,743
CO₂ if planted / yr
786.3 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Queenstown lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Queenstown has lost about 2 hectares of forest (about 3 football pitches): 1.6% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (62%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from March 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 2 haabout 3 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 1.6%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 2 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
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 | under 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 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2018 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2019 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 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 Queenstown?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good62% · 2 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown37% · under 1 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
- 1,830 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 1,830 ha
- Overall change
- +1 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Queenstown stayed about the same size, at about 1,830 hectares: new forest grew on about 8 hectares, and about 8 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 Queenstown
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Bhisho118.3 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 28%
- Air quality
- 22
- Mdantsane142.9 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 42%
- Air quality
- 31
- East London157.8 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 29%
- Air quality
- 31
- Mthatha183.8 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 26%
- Air quality
- 53
- Mohale's Hoek202.5 km
Lesotho
- Tree cover
- 22%
- Air quality
- 18
- Mafeteng233.3 km
Lesotho
- Tree cover
- 4%
- Air quality
- 13
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Frequently asked
Questions about Queenstown
What is the air quality (AQI) in Queenstown right now?
The latest reading for Queenstown shows an AQI of 33 (Good), observed Nov 11, 06:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 2 ground-station cities within 165 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Queenstown today?
At AQI 33 (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 Queenstown been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Queenstown's daily AQI at 20 on average, from 8 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 54 on Nov 6. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Queenstown lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Queenstown has lost about 2 hectares of forest (about 3 football pitches): 1.6% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (62%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Queenstown stayed about the same size, at about 1,830 hectares: new forest grew on about 8 hectares, and about 8 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Queenstown?
Queenstown has an estimated 58,317 trees across the 12.54 km² of land measured — 18.6% tree cover, 11 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Queenstown need?
Queenstown needs roughly 35,743 more trees to close a 11-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 786.3 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Queenstown'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 Komani; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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