Malaysia · Sabah · 4 cities
Air quality in Sabah today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Lahad Datu has the cleanest air of the 4 cities we track in Sabah (AQI 31, Good), and Tawau the worst (AQI 67, Moderate). Sandakan has the most tree cover, at 69.3% — #6 of 56 cities measured in Malaysia.
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 44
Average right now
Good
- cities tracked
- 4
- average tree cover
- 45.6%
- Malaysia: 38.7%
- worst air now: Tawau
- 67
- cleanest air now: Lahad Datu
- 31
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous, and it reads differently from Malaysia's API (IPU). Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
Sabah · average AQI 44
Air quality today across Sabah, city by city
| Kota Kinabalu | 40Good | 43.1% | — | #22 of 56 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandakan | 37Good | 69.3% | — | #6 of 56 |
| Tawau | 67Moderate | 23.9% | 10.8K | #41 of 56 |
| Lahad Datu | 31Good | 46.2% | — | #15 of 56 |
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 Malaysia.
Is this the same as Malaysia's API (IPU)?
No. Airleaf shows the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the scale used by IQAir and most air-quality apps. Malaysia's Department of Environment (Jabatan Alam Sekitar) publishes its own Air Pollutant Index, the API or Indeks Pencemar Udara (IPU), every hour for each of its monitoring stations on APIMS (apims.doe.gov.my). Both scales call 0–50 good and 51–100 moderate; above that the IPU runs 101–200 unhealthy, 201–300 very unhealthy and over 300 hazardous. The two use different breakpoints and averaging times, so the numbers for the same hour often differ. For the official IPU reading, check the nearest station on APIMS.
Malaysia's API (IPU) and the AQI, explainedDeforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Sabah lost?
Since 2001, Sabah has lost about 2.03 million hectares of forest (about 20,000 km²): 31% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (79%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 2.03 million haabout 20,000 km²
- Share of its forest
- 31%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 1.61 million 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 | 51,500 ha | 11,600 ha | 63,200 ha |
| 2002 | 50,600 ha | 9,300 ha | 59,900 ha |
| 2003 | 26,200 ha | 6,990 ha | 33,200 ha |
| 2004 | 71,000 ha | 16,000 ha | 87,000 ha |
| 2005 | 57,900 ha | 15,400 ha | 73,400 ha |
| 2006 | 62,400 ha | 19,700 ha | 82,100 ha |
| 2007 | 46,800 ha | 15,800 ha | 62,600 ha |
| 2008 | 65,300 ha | 19,600 ha | 84,900 ha |
| 2009 | 74,500 ha | 21,200 ha | 95,700 ha |
| 2010 | 88,100 ha | 15,900 ha | 104,000 ha |
| 2011 | 56,100 ha | 12,700 ha | 68,800 ha |
| 2012 | 83,300 ha | 21,100 ha | 104,000 ha |
| 2013 | 53,200 ha | 12,300 ha | 65,500 ha |
| 2014 | 107,000 ha | 30,600 ha | 138,000 ha |
| 2015 | 78,600 ha | 28,100 ha | 107,000 ha |
| 2016 | 81,000 ha | 31,900 ha | 113,000 ha |
| 2017 | 69,100 ha | 19,800 ha | 89,000 ha |
| 2018 | 74,400 ha | 18,300 ha | 92,700 ha |
| 2019 | 76,700 ha | 13,800 ha | 90,500 ha |
| 2020 | 58,100 ha | 10,400 ha | 68,500 ha |
| 2021 | 56,000 ha | 10,800 ha | 66,800 ha |
| 2022 | 51,700 ha | 12,800 ha | 64,500 ha |
| 2023 | 66,500 ha | 15,300 ha | 81,800 ha |
| 2024 | 59,200 ha | 16,500 ha | 75,600 ha |
| 2025 | 46,900 ha | 15,800 ha | 62,600 ha |
Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 70,300 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 90,700 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2014, when about 138,000 hectares of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in Sabah?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good79% · 1.6 million ha
- Loggingcan grow back16% · 316,000 ha
- Shifting farmingcan grow back4.3% · 87,500 ha
Also: towns and roads, wildfires, storms, floods and other natural causes, mining and energy, 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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