City report · KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Vryheid Air quality today
Air quality in Vryheid currently reads AQI 13 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Air quality right now
AQI 13
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 2.0
- tree cover
- 33.3%
- trees in this area
- 105K
- more trees needed
- 0
Measured across a 2 km radius around Vryheid, 3100, South Africa (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 21, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Vryheid · AQI 13 (Good)
Vryheid's tree count comes to 104,615 trees across 12.57 km², already at or above the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Vryheid today: AQI 13, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 11, 11:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 185 km, US EPA index. Values in µg/m³.
Estimate · model corrected with 3 station cities within 185 km, e.g. Ermelo and Richards Bay
Health signal
Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
PM2.5
2.0
PM10
5.9
NO₂
0.5
O₃
108.0
SO₂
3.6
CO
117.0
- 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 Vryheid's daily AQI at 44 on average, from 4 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 74 on Nov 6.
Where Vryheid stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Vryheid: Healthy tree cover
33.3% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 12.57 km².
Trees in this area
104,615
Target trees
104,615
More trees needed
0
CO₂ if planted / yr
0 kg
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Vryheid lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Vryheid has lost about 3,840 hectares of forest (about 5,400 football pitches): 72% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 30 hectares (under 1%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns.
2017: satellite photo from May 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km northwest of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 3,840 haabout 5,400 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 72%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 30 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 97 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 106 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2003, when about 423 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 | 5 ha | 236 ha | 241 ha |
| 2002 | under 1 ha | 103 ha | 103 ha |
| 2003 | 1 ha | 422 ha | 423 ha |
| 2004 | under 1 ha | 154 ha | 154 ha |
| 2005 | under 1 ha | 408 ha | 408 ha |
| 2006 | 2 ha | 282 ha | 284 ha |
| 2007 | 1 ha | 100 ha | 101 ha |
| 2008 | under 1 ha | 214 ha | 215 ha |
| 2009 | under 1 ha | 106 ha | 106 ha |
| 2010 | under 1 ha | 164 ha | 165 ha |
| 2011 | under 1 ha | 166 ha | 167 ha |
| 2012 | under 1 ha | 258 ha | 259 ha |
| 2013 | under 1 ha | 62 ha | 62 ha |
| 2014 | 1 ha | 104 ha | 105 ha |
| 2015 | under 1 ha | 33 ha | 33 ha |
| 2016 | 2 ha | 120 ha | 122 ha |
| 2017 | 5 ha | 97 ha | 102 ha |
| 2018 | 1 ha | 89 ha | 90 ha |
| 2019 | 3 ha | 127 ha | 130 ha |
| 2020 | under 1 ha | 85 ha | 85 ha |
| 2021 | under 1 ha | 134 ha | 134 ha |
| 2022 | under 1 ha | 63 ha | 63 ha |
| 2023 | under 1 ha | 100 ha | 101 ha |
| 2024 | under 1 ha | 133 ha | 133 ha |
| 2025 | 2 ha | 49 ha | 51 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Vryheid?
- Loggingcan grow back99% · 3,800 ha
Also: farms, pasture and plantations, storms, floods and other natural causes, towns and roads, 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
- 6,510 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 6,400 ha
- Overall change
- −114 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Vryheid stayed about the same size, at about 6,400 hectares: new forest grew on about 931 hectares, and about 1,050 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 Vryheid
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Newcastle84.6 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 13%
- Air quality
- 49
- Ladysmith132.5 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 29%
- Air quality
- 41
- Manzini152.8 km
Eswatini
- Tree cover
- 30%
- Air quality
- 77
- Ermelo159.0 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 16%
- Air quality
- 43
- Mbabane165.0 km
Eswatini
- Tree cover
- 40%
- Air quality
- 77
- Richards Bay166.1 km
South Africa
- Tree cover
- 41%
- Air quality
- 17
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Frequently asked
Questions about Vryheid
What is the air quality (AQI) in Vryheid right now?
The latest reading for Vryheid shows an AQI of 13 (Good), observed Nov 11, 11:00 local time via Open-Meteo / CAMS, corrected with 3 ground-station cities within 185 km, US EPA index. The main pollutant is PM2.5. Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Is it safe to exercise outside in Vryheid today?
At AQI 13 (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 Vryheid been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Vryheid's daily AQI at 44 on average, from 4 on Nov 8 to an hourly peak of 74 on Nov 6. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Vryheid lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Vryheid has lost about 3,840 hectares of forest (about 5,400 football pitches): 72% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it was lost to logging, so much of it can grow back. About 30 hectares (under 1%) was deforestation: forest cleared for good for farms, mines or towns. Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 97 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 106 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Vryheid stayed about the same size, at about 6,400 hectares: new forest grew on about 931 hectares, and about 1,050 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Vryheid?
Vryheid has an estimated 104,615 trees across the 12.57 km² measured — 33.3% tree cover, already past the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Vryheid need?
Vryheid has already reached its tree-cover target, so no additional trees are needed to close the gap.
How are Vryheid'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 Vryheid; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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