Nigeria · Rivers State · 3 cities
Air quality in Rivers State today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Port Harcourt has the cleanest air of the 3 cities we track in Rivers State (AQI 86, Moderate), and Okrika the worst (AQI 99, Moderate). Buguma has the most tree cover, at 58.3% — #4 of 94 cities measured in Nigeria.
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 94
Average right now
Moderate
- cities tracked
- 3
- average tree cover
- 34.1%
- Nigeria: 19.4%
- worst air now: Okrika
- 99
- cleanest air now: Port Harcourt
- 86
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
Rivers State · average AQI 94
Air quality today across Rivers State, city by city
| Port Harcourt | 86Moderate | 12.6% | 45.9K | #50 of 94 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buguma | 96Moderate | 58.3% | — | #4 of 94 |
| Okrika | 99Moderate | 31.4% | — | #13 of 94 |
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 Nigeria.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Rivers State lost?
Since 2001, Rivers State has lost about 33,000 hectares of forest (about 46,000 football pitches): 8.8% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (93%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 33,000 haabout 46,000 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 8.8%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 30,600 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 | 764 ha | 28 ha | 792 ha |
| 2002 | 305 ha | 18 ha | 323 ha |
| 2003 | 267 ha | 11 ha | 278 ha |
| 2004 | 255 ha | 55 ha | 310 ha |
| 2005 | 169 ha | 60 ha | 229 ha |
| 2006 | 196 ha | 17 ha | 213 ha |
| 2007 | 382 ha | 28 ha | 410 ha |
| 2008 | 453 ha | 27 ha | 480 ha |
| 2009 | 304 ha | 14 ha | 318 ha |
| 2010 | 618 ha | 29 ha | 647 ha |
| 2011 | 423 ha | 20 ha | 443 ha |
| 2012 | 495 ha | 44 ha | 539 ha |
| 2013 | 776 ha | 121 ha | 897 ha |
| 2014 | 1,860 ha | 231 ha | 2,090 ha |
| 2015 | 2,070 ha | 86 ha | 2,160 ha |
| 2016 | 1,600 ha | 91 ha | 1,690 ha |
| 2017 | 3,040 ha | 94 ha | 3,140 ha |
| 2018 | 3,380 ha | 381 ha | 3,760 ha |
| 2019 | 888 ha | 66 ha | 954 ha |
| 2020 | 1,680 ha | 149 ha | 1,830 ha |
| 2021 | 647 ha | 82 ha | 729 ha |
| 2022 | 2,890 ha | 169 ha | 3,060 ha |
| 2023 | 1,650 ha | 34 ha | 1,680 ha |
| 2024 | 2,850 ha | 130 ha | 2,980 ha |
| 2025 | 2,610 ha | 450 ha | 3,060 ha |
Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 2,300 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 2,280 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2018, when about 3,760 hectares of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in Rivers State?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good86% · 28,300 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good5.7% · 1,870 ha
- Shifting farmingcan grow back3.7% · 1,210 ha
Also: logging, mining and energy, storms, floods and other natural causes, wildfires, 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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