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City report · Indonesia

Tarakan Air quality today

Air quality in Tarakan currently reads AQI 12 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

Air quality right now

AQI 12

Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5
PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
2.2
tree cover
42.7%
trees in this area
133K
more trees needed
0

Measured across a 2 km radius around Tarakan, Tarakan City, North Kalimantan, Indonesia (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 26, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.

Tarakan · AQI 12 (Good)

Dark green marks tree cover detected inside the study radius.Sentinel-2 L2A (ESA Copernicus) via Earth Search, captured Sep 26, 2026

Tarakan's tree count comes to 132,805 trees across 12.44 km² of land, already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.

Air quality detail

Air quality in Tarakan today: AQI 12, Good

Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 17:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.

Model estimate · no ground station nearby

Health signal

Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

PM2.5

2.2

PM10

3.3

NO₂

0.4

O₃

50.0

SO₂

0.3

CO

128.0

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 Tarakan's daily AQI at 26 on average, from 14 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 60 on Nov 5.

Last 7 daysavg 26 · peak 60
Nov 5: AQI 48 (peak 60)Nov 6: AQI 27 (peak 41)Nov 7: AQI 31 (peak 51)Nov 8: AQI 18 (peak 33)Nov 9: AQI 14 (peak 26)Nov 10: AQI 24 (peak 41)Nov 11: AQI 18 (peak 25)
Nov 5Nov 11

This is the US EPA AQI. How it differs from Indonesia's ISPU

Where Tarakan stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest

Tree cover detail

Tree cover in Tarakan: Healthy tree cover

42.7% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.44 km² of land.

Target reached

Trees in this area

132,805

Target trees

132,805

More trees needed

0

CO₂ if planted / yr

0 kg

Deforestation · 2001–2025

How much forest has Tarakan lost?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Tarakan has lost about 3,750 hectares of forest (about 5,300 football pitches): 33% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (87%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations.

Satellite image of the area around Tarakan, July 2017

2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.

Forest lost since 2001
3,750 haabout 5,300 football pitches
Share of its forest
33%of what there was in 2000
Cleared for good
3,270 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns

Forest loss is slowing down: about 64 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 137 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2004, when about 464 hectares of forest were lost.

Forest lost each year around Tarakan, 2001–2025

Hectares of forest lost each year

Forest lost each year around Tarakan, 2001–2025. Use the left and right arrow keys to read each year.464

Show the figures as a table
Forest lost each year around Tarakan, 2001–2025
YearCleared for goodCan grow backTotal
200149 ha3 ha51 ha
2002120 ha7 ha127 ha
200395 ha15 ha109 ha
2004384 ha80 ha464 ha
2005352 ha88 ha440 ha
2006189 ha44 ha233 ha
2007259 ha7 ha266 ha
200840 ha1 ha41 ha
2009278 ha58 ha336 ha
2010147 ha13 ha160 ha
201191 ha10 ha101 ha
201296 ha16 ha112 ha
201335 ha17 ha52 ha
2014147 ha3 ha150 ha
201587 ha18 ha105 ha
2016197 ha30 ha227 ha
2017126 ha16 ha142 ha
2018101 ha11 ha112 ha
2019128 ha4 ha132 ha
202068 ha5 ha72 ha
202194 ha16 ha110 ha
202251 ha5 ha56 ha
202362 ha6 ha69 ha
202455 ha6 ha61 ha
202523 haunder 1 ha23 ha

What is causing deforestation around Tarakan?

  • Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good75% · 2,820 ha
  • Towns and roadscleared for good12% · 457 ha
  • Wildfirescan grow back7.2% · 269 ha

Also: logging, storms, floods and other natural causes, 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
10,500 ha
Forest in 2020
10,700 ha
Overall change
+160 hamore forest than in 2000

Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Tarakan stayed about the same size, at about 10,700 hectares: new forest grew on about 1,150 hectares, and about 990 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 Tarakan

Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.

  • Tawau

    Malaysia

    108.8 km
    Tree cover
    24%
    Air quality
    87
  • Lahad Datu

    Malaysia

    207.0 km
    Tree cover
    46%
    Air quality
    55
  • Sandakan

    Malaysia

    287.0 km
    Tree cover
    69%
    Air quality
    33
  • Kota Kinabalu

    Malaysia

    340.5 km
    Tree cover
    43%
    Air quality
    55
  • Bandar Seri Begawan

    Brunei

    342.4 km
    Tree cover
    56%
    Air quality
    10
  • Bontang

    Indonesia

    353.9 km
    Tree cover
    28%
    Air quality
    52

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Tarakan air quality (AQI) and tree cover — measured by Airleaf
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Frequently asked

Questions about Tarakan

What is the air quality (AQI) in Tarakan right now?

The latest reading for Tarakan shows an AQI of 12 (Good), observed Nov 11, 17:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.

Is it safe to exercise outside in Tarakan today?

At AQI 12 (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 Tarakan been like this week?

Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Tarakan's daily AQI at 26 on average, from 14 on Nov 9 to an hourly peak of 60 on Nov 5. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Is Tarakan's AQI 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.

How much forest has the area around Tarakan lost since 2001?

Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Tarakan has lost about 3,750 hectares of forest (about 5,300 football pitches): 33% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (87%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for farms, pasture and plantations. Forest loss is slowing down: about 64 hectares a year in 2021–2025, down from 137 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Tarakan stayed about the same size, at about 10,700 hectares: new forest grew on about 1,150 hectares, and about 990 hectares were lost.

What is the tree count in Tarakan?

Tarakan has an estimated 132,805 trees across the 12.44 km² of land measured — 42.7% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.

How many more trees does Tarakan need?

Tarakan has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.

How are Tarakan's air quality and tree cover measured?

Air quality comes from ground monitoring stations via OpenAQ where one reports nearby, and otherwise, as here, from the Open-Meteo / CAMS model, which may differ from street-level monitors. 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 Tarakan; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.

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