City report · Gauteng, South Africa
Randburg Air quality today
Air quality in Randburg currently reads AQI 54 (Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
AQI 54
Air quality right now
Moderate
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 10.6
- tree cover
- 36.5%
- trees in this area
- 115K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Ferndale, Randburg, 2194, South Africa (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 22, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Randburg · AQI 54 (Moderate)
Randburg's tree count comes to 114,668 trees across 12.57 km², already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Randburg today: AQI 54, Moderate
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 19:00 local time via OpenAQ ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Little John Park , 2.6 km away · median of 2 stations
Health signal
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
PM2.5
10.6
PM10
—
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Shift iT, Robin Kohl
- Outdoor exercise
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier
- Windows
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution
- Mask
- Not needed for most people
- Air purifier
- Worth running if you are sensitive
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Randburg's daily AQI at 67 on average, from 51 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 155 on Nov 4.
Where Randburg stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Randburg: Healthy tree cover
36.5% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
114,668
Target trees
114,668
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Randburg lost?
There was very little forest around Randburg in 2000, about 79 hectares, and about 14 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here.
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
The worst year was 2006, when about 2 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 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2004 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2006 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 ha |
| 2007 | 2 ha | under 1 ha | 2 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 | 1 ha | under 1 ha | 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 Randburg?
- Towns and roadscleared for good96% · 13 ha
- Unknown causescause unknown3% · under 1 ha
Also: farms, pasture and plantations.
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
- 10,600 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 11,000 ha
- Overall change
- +319 hamore forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Randburg grew from about 10,600 hectares to 11,000 hectares, a net gain of about 319 hectares (+3%). New forest grew on about 461 hectares, while 142 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 Randburg
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Johannesburg12.8 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 4%
- Air quality
- 44
- Roodepoort14.9 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 21%
- Air quality
- 37
- Germiston21.1 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 44
- Krugersdorp22.6 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 26%
- Air quality
- 37
- Soweto24.0 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 6%
- Air quality
- 37
- Thembisa25.0 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 2%
- Air quality
- 58
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Frequently asked
Questions about Randburg
What is the air quality (AQI) in Randburg right now?
The latest reading for Randburg shows an AQI of 54 (Moderate), measured Nov 11, 19:00 local time by 2 ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ (the median of their readings; the nearest is Little John Park , 2.6 km away). The main pollutant is PM2.5. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Randburg today?
At AQI 54 (Moderate): fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier. Windows: fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution. Masks: not needed for most people. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Randburg been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Randburg's daily AQI at 67 on average, from 51 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 155 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 Randburg lost since 2001?
There was very little forest around Randburg in 2000, about 79 hectares, and about 14 hectares of it has been lost since. Only fairly dense woodland counts as forest in these maps, so scattered street and garden trees don't show up here. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Randburg grew from about 10,600 hectares to 11,000 hectares, a net gain of about 319 hectares (+3%). New forest grew on about 461 hectares, while 142 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Randburg?
Randburg has an estimated 114,668 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 36.5% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Randburg need?
Randburg has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Randburg's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Ferndale, 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 Ferndale; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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