City report · Sabah, Malaysia
Sandakan Air quality today
Air quality in Sandakan currently reads AQI 33 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 33
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 6.0
- tree cover
- 69.3%
- trees in this area
- 112K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Pusat Bandar Sandakan, 90000 Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 13, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Sandakan · AQI 33 (Good)
Sandakan's tree count comes to 111,686 trees across 6.45 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Sandakan today: AQI 33, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 22:00 local time via World Air Quality Index Project ground stations, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Ground station · Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia, 4 km away
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
6.0
PM10
13.0
NO₂
—
O₃
—
SO₂
—
CO
—
Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Malaysia Department of Environment (DOE); Air Polluant Index Management System
- Outdoor exercise
- A good day to be active outside
- Windows
- Open them to air the house
- Mask
- Not needed
- Air purifier
- Not needed
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Sandakan's daily AQI at 22 on average, from 16 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 48 on Nov 5.
This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from Malaysia's API (IPU) · The full guide
Where Sandakan stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Sandakan: Healthy tree cover
69.3% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 6.45 km² of land.
Trees in this area
111,686
Target trees
111,686
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Sandakan lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Sandakan has lost about 2,060 hectares of forest (about 2,900 football pitches): 23% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (95%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.
2017: satellite photo from April 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 2,060 haabout 2,900 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 23%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 1,960 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss is slowing down: about 26 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 61 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2011, when about 299 hectares of forest were lost.
Hectares of forest lost each year
Show the figures as a table
| Year | Cleared for good | Can grow back | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 133 ha | under 1 ha | 133 ha |
| 2002 | 39 ha | under 1 ha | 39 ha |
| 2003 | 15 ha | under 1 ha | 16 ha |
| 2004 | 86 ha | under 1 ha | 86 ha |
| 2005 | 99 ha | 4 ha | 103 ha |
| 2006 | 145 ha | 25 ha | 170 ha |
| 2007 | 87 ha | 2 ha | 88 ha |
| 2008 | 84 ha | 2 ha | 86 ha |
| 2009 | 62 ha | 17 ha | 79 ha |
| 2010 | 148 ha | 2 ha | 150 ha |
| 2011 | 298 ha | 1 ha | 299 ha |
| 2012 | 110 ha | 2 ha | 112 ha |
| 2013 | 37 ha | under 1 ha | 38 ha |
| 2014 | 76 ha | 2 ha | 78 ha |
| 2015 | 139 ha | 3 ha | 142 ha |
| 2016 | 73 ha | 3 ha | 75 ha |
| 2017 | 74 ha | 4 ha | 78 ha |
| 2018 | 80 ha | 5 ha | 85 ha |
| 2019 | 28 ha | 14 ha | 42 ha |
| 2020 | 23 ha | 5 ha | 28 ha |
| 2021 | 13 ha | 4 ha | 16 ha |
| 2022 | 24 ha | under 1 ha | 24 ha |
| 2023 | 29 ha | 3 ha | 32 ha |
| 2024 | 46 ha | 2 ha | 48 ha |
| 2025 | 12 ha | under 1 ha | 12 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Sandakan?
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good50% · 1,020 ha
- Towns and roadscleared for good45% · 927 ha
- Loggingcan grow back3.4% · 70 ha
Also: storms, floods and other natural causes, mining and energy, wildfires, shifting farming, unknown causes.
Causes for 2025 are estimates, based on what caused forest loss in the same places up to 2024.
Forest gained and lost, 2000–2020
- Forest in 2000
- 8,690 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 7,950 ha
- Overall change
- −735 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Sandakan shrank from about 8,690 hectares to 7,950 hectares, a net loss of about 735 hectares (−8.5%). New forest grew on about 225 hectares, but 960 hectares were lost.
These 2000 and 2020 maps, from the University of Maryland, count any land with trees taller than 5 m as forest, including plantations and orchards. Forest that was cut or burned and had grown back by 2020 counts in both years, so the loss here is smaller than the yearly figures.
These figures cover everything within 10 km of the city center, a wider area than the report above, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
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. Forest gained and lost 2000–2020: Potapov et al. 2022, UMD GLAD Global Land Cover and Land Use Change, CC BY 4.0. Images: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data. How it's measured
In the same region
Measured cities near Sandakan
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Lahad Datu93.8 km
Malaysia
- Tree cover
- 46%
- Air quality
- 55
- Tawau179.2 km
Malaysia
- Tree cover
- 24%
- Air quality
- 87
- Tarakan287.0 km
Indonesia
- Tree cover
- 43%
- Air quality
- 12
- Jolo319.9 km
Philippines
- Tree cover
- 36%
- Air quality
- 19
- Bandar Seri Begawan367.3 km
Brunei
- Tree cover
- 56%
- Air quality
- 10
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Frequently asked
Questions about Sandakan
What is the air quality (AQI) in Sandakan right now?
The latest reading for Sandakan shows an AQI of 33 (Good), measured Nov 11, 22:00 local time by the Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia ground monitoring station, 4 km away, via OpenAQ. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Sandakan today?
At AQI 33 (Good): a good day to be active outside. Windows: open them to air the house. Masks: not needed. The reading changes through the day, so check again before a long run or ride.
What has the air quality in Sandakan been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Sandakan's daily AQI at 22 on average, from 16 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 48 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Is Sandakan's AQI 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.
How much forest has the area around Sandakan lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Sandakan has lost about 2,060 hectares of forest (about 2,900 football pitches): 23% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (95%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Forest loss is slowing down: about 26 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 61 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Sandakan shrank from about 8,690 hectares to 7,950 hectares, a net loss of about 735 hectares (−8.5%). New forest grew on about 225 hectares, but 960 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Sandakan?
Sandakan has an estimated 111,686 trees across the 6.45 km² of land measured — 69.3% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Sandakan need?
Sandakan has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Sandakan's air quality and tree cover measured?
Air quality is measured by ground monitoring stations near Pusat Bandar Sandakan, via OpenAQ; the 7-day trend is the Open-Meteo / CAMS model's estimate. Tree cover is measured from Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search satellite imagery at 10 m detail across a 2 km radius around Pusat Bandar Sandakan; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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