Indonesia · West Sumatra · 3 cities
Air quality in West Sumatra today The AQI right now, city by city
Right now, Bukittinggi has the cleanest air of the 3 cities we track in West Sumatra (AQI 20, Good), and Payakumbuh the worst (AQI 27, Good). Bukittinggi has the most tree cover, at 38.7% — #33 of 155 cities measured in Indonesia.
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 24
Average right now
Good
- cities tracked
- 3
- average tree cover
- 27.1%
- Indonesia: 28.0%
- worst air now: Payakumbuh
- 27
- cleanest air now: Bukittinggi
- 20
Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous, and it reads differently from Indonesia's ISPU. Measured by Airleaf, refreshed hourly.
West Sumatra · average AQI 24
Air quality today across West Sumatra, city by city
| Padang | 24Good | 4.5% | 48.0K | #154 of 155 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Payakumbuh | 27Good | 38.0% | — | #36 of 155 |
| Bukittinggi | 20Good | 38.7% | — | #33 of 155 |
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 Indonesia.
Is this the same as Indonesia's ISPU?
No. Airleaf shows the US EPA Air Quality Index (AQI), the scale used by IQAir and most air-quality apps. Indonesia's official index is the ISPU (Indeks Standar Pencemar Udara), published by the environment ministry from its own monitoring stations. Its bands are 0–50 Baik (good), 51–100 Sedang (moderate), 101–200 Tidak Sehat (unhealthy), 201–300 Sangat Tidak Sehat (very unhealthy) and over 300 Berbahaya (hazardous). The two indexes use different breakpoints and averaging times, so the same air can score differently on each.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has West Sumatra lost?
Since 2001, West Sumatra has lost about 762,000 hectares of forest (about 7,600 km²): 20% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (78%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 762,000 haabout 7,600 km²
- Share of its forest
- 20%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 597,000 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 | 11,000 ha | 3,740 ha | 14,700 ha |
| 2002 | 10,600 ha | 4,780 ha | 15,400 ha |
| 2003 | 6,900 ha | 2,940 ha | 9,830 ha |
| 2004 | 22,100 ha | 4,400 ha | 26,500 ha |
| 2005 | 23,400 ha | 5,850 ha | 29,300 ha |
| 2006 | 26,900 ha | 5,610 ha | 32,500 ha |
| 2007 | 26,400 ha | 5,430 ha | 31,900 ha |
| 2008 | 28,000 ha | 6,080 ha | 34,000 ha |
| 2009 | 34,200 ha | 9,080 ha | 43,300 ha |
| 2010 | 17,900 ha | 5,350 ha | 23,300 ha |
| 2011 | 35,600 ha | 6,450 ha | 42,000 ha |
| 2012 | 27,400 ha | 7,800 ha | 35,200 ha |
| 2013 | 17,500 ha | 4,190 ha | 21,700 ha |
| 2014 | 23,500 ha | 5,460 ha | 28,900 ha |
| 2015 | 16,400 ha | 4,230 ha | 20,600 ha |
| 2016 | 27,500 ha | 8,770 ha | 36,300 ha |
| 2017 | 34,700 ha | 12,500 ha | 47,200 ha |
| 2018 | 27,500 ha | 7,720 ha | 35,200 ha |
| 2019 | 21,000 ha | 6,460 ha | 27,400 ha |
| 2020 | 22,400 ha | 5,640 ha | 28,100 ha |
| 2021 | 27,700 ha | 6,470 ha | 34,100 ha |
| 2022 | 27,300 ha | 7,030 ha | 34,300 ha |
| 2023 | 27,900 ha | 6,790 ha | 34,700 ha |
| 2024 | 22,800 ha | 8,180 ha | 30,900 ha |
| 2025 | 30,100 ha | 14,200 ha | 44,200 ha |
Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 35,700 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 34,800 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2017, when about 47,200 hectares of forest were lost.
What is causing deforestation in West Sumatra?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good78% · 592,000 ha
- Shifting farmingcan grow back13% · 96,500 ha
- Loggingcan grow back7.6% · 57,800 ha
Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, wildfires, mining and energy, 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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