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Air quality now: Mwanza

Tanzania · Mwanza · 2 cities

Air quality in Mwanza today The AQI right now, city by city

Right now, Sengerema has the cleanest air of the 2 cities we track in Mwanza (AQI 17, Good), and Mwanza the worst (AQI 21, Good). Mwanza has the most tree cover, at 23.5% — #13 of 33 cities measured in Tanzania.

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.

cities tracked
2
average tree cover
17.0%
Tanzania: 20.7%
worst air now: Mwanza
21
cleanest air now: Sengerema
17

Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.

Air quality today across Mwanza, city by city

Current air quality and tree cover for cities in Mwanza, Tanzania
Mwanza21Good23.5%15.6K#13 of 33
Sengerema17Good10.6%60.9K#24 of 33

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 Tanzania.

Deforestation · 2001–2025

How much forest has Mwanza lost?

Since 2001, Mwanza has lost about 8,340 hectares of forest (about 12,000 football pitches): 15% of the forest it had in 2000. The biggest cause was logging (46%), after which forest can grow back. About 3,660 hectares (44%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.

Forest lost since 2001
8,340 haabout 12,000 football pitches
Share of its forest
15%of what there was in 2000
Cleared for good
3,660 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest lost each year in Mwanza, 2001–2025

Hectares of forest lost each year

Forest lost each year in Mwanza, 2001–2025. Use the left and right arrow keys to read each year.708

Show the figures as a table
Forest lost each year in Mwanza, 2001–2025
YearCleared for goodCan grow backTotal
2001225 ha483 ha708 ha
200246 ha348 ha393 ha
200337 ha253 ha290 ha
200414 ha94 ha108 ha
2005135 ha319 ha454 ha
200660 ha174 ha234 ha
2007213 ha446 ha659 ha
200822 ha51 ha72 ha
200996 ha156 ha252 ha
201053 ha93 ha146 ha
2011204 ha139 ha343 ha
201294 ha102 ha196 ha
2013102 ha179 ha281 ha
2014194 ha151 ha345 ha
201551 ha157 ha208 ha
2016251 ha202 ha453 ha
2017196 ha83 ha279 ha
2018341 ha332 ha673 ha
2019167 ha179 ha346 ha
2020273 ha243 ha516 ha
202165 ha95 ha160 ha
2022110 ha69 ha179 ha
2023256 ha161 ha417 ha
2024289 ha99 ha388 ha
2025165 ha77 ha242 ha

Forest loss is slowing down: about 277 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 453 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2001, when about 708 hectares of forest were lost.

What is causing deforestation in Mwanza?

  • Loggingcan grow back46% · 3,800 ha
  • Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good43% · 3,600 ha
  • Shifting farmingcan grow back4.9% · 406 ha

Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, towns and roads, 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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