Philippines · Eastern Visayas · 3 cities
Air quality in Eastern Visayas today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Catbalogan has the cleanest air of the 3 cities we track in Eastern Visayas (AQI 35, Good), and Tacloban the worst (AQI 57, Moderate). Catbalogan has the most tree cover, at 74.4% — #1 of 99 cities measured in the Philippines.
Every city is measured the same way, over the same 2 km around its center: the air quality right now, from ground stations where there are any, and its tree cover.
AQI 45
Average right now
Good
- cities tracked
- 3
- average tree cover
- 50.3%
- Philippines: 40.9%
- worst air now: Tacloban
- 57
- cleanest air now: Catbalogan
- 35
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
Eastern Visayas · average AQI 45
Air quality today across Eastern Visayas, city by city
| Tacloban | 57Moderate | 41.0% | — | #44 of 99 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ormoc | 42Good | 35.5% | — | #58 of 99 |
| Catbalogan | 35Good | 74.4% | — | #1 of 99 |
Air quality is the US AQI from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where available, otherwise the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, refreshed hourly. Tree cover is measured within 2 km of each city center from Sentinel-2 imagery; the rank compares every city measured in the Philippines.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Eastern Visayas lost?
Since 2001, Eastern Visayas has lost about 547 hectares of forest (about 770 football pitches): 5.1% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (95%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 547 haabout 770 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 5.1%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 519 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 | 85 ha | 5 ha | 90 ha |
| 2002 | 32 ha | 2 ha | 34 ha |
| 2003 | 27 ha | under 1 ha | 27 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 | 69 ha | 4 ha | 73 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 | 76 ha | 7 ha | 83 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2016 | under 1 ha | under 1 ha | under 1 ha |
| 2017 | 133 ha | 8 ha | 141 ha |
| 2018 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2019 | 13 ha | under 1 ha | 13 ha |
| 2020 | 5 ha | under 1 ha | 5 ha |
| 2021 | 31 ha | 2 ha | 33 ha |
| 2022 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2023 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2024 | 8 ha | under 1 ha | 8 ha |
| 2025 | 14 ha | 1 ha | 15 ha |
The worst year was 2017, when about 141 hectares of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in Eastern Visayas?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good95% · 519 ha
- Shifting farmingcan grow back2.5% · 14 ha
- Wildfirescan grow back1.4% · 8 ha
Also: logging, unknown causes.
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
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. How it's measured
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