City report · Tanzania
Zanzibar Air quality today
Air quality in Zanzibar currently reads AQI 43 (Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
AQI 43
Air quality right now
Good
- PM2.5, fine particles (µg/m³)
- 7.3
- tree cover
- 19.8%
- trees in this area
- 38.3K
- more trees needed
- 19.7K
Measured across a 2 km radius around Mwembetanga, Zanzibar, Tanzania (12.57 km²), from a satellite image of Sep 16, 2026. Lower AQI is better: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous.
Zanzibar · AQI 43 (Good)
Zanzibar's tree count comes to 38,317 trees across 7.74 km² of land, 10 points below the 30% tree-cover level considered healthy for this area, so roughly 19,739 more trees would close the gap.
Air quality detail
Air quality in Zanzibar today: AQI 43, Good
Main pollutant: PM2.5 · Observed Nov 10, 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
7.3
PM10
10.4
NO₂
0.9
O₃
39.0
SO₂
0.4
CO
114.0
- 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 Zanzibar's daily AQI at 49 on average, from 39 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 55 on Nov 4.
Where Zanzibar stands: the most polluted cities in the world right now · the cleanest
Tree cover detail
Tree cover in Zanzibar: Below target
19.8% tree cover against a 30% healthy-neighborhood target, across 7.74 km² of land.
Trees in this area
38,317
Target trees
58,056
More trees needed
19,739
CO₂ if planted / yr
434.3 t
Deforestation · 2001–2025
How much forest has Zanzibar lost?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Zanzibar has lost about 1,700 hectares of forest (about 2,400 football pitches): 23% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (over 99%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads.
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area about 7 km east of the city center.
- Forest lost since 2001
- 1,700 haabout 2,400 football pitches
- Share of its forest
- 23%of what there was in 2000
- Cleared for good
- 1,700 hadeforestation: turned into farms, mines or towns
Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 72 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 60 hectares a year in 2016–2020. The worst year was 2011, when about 229 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 | 11 ha | under 1 ha | 11 ha |
| 2002 | 10 ha | under 1 ha | 10 ha |
| 2003 | 46 ha | under 1 ha | 46 ha |
| 2004 | 42 ha | under 1 ha | 42 ha |
| 2005 | 42 ha | under 1 ha | 42 ha |
| 2006 | 91 ha | under 1 ha | 91 ha |
| 2007 | 13 ha | under 1 ha | 13 ha |
| 2008 | 145 ha | 1 ha | 146 ha |
| 2009 | 33 ha | under 1 ha | 33 ha |
| 2010 | 67 ha | under 1 ha | 67 ha |
| 2011 | 229 ha | under 1 ha | 229 ha |
| 2012 | 30 ha | under 1 ha | 30 ha |
| 2013 | 87 ha | under 1 ha | 87 ha |
| 2014 | 79 ha | under 1 ha | 79 ha |
| 2015 | 112 ha | under 1 ha | 112 ha |
| 2016 | 75 ha | under 1 ha | 75 ha |
| 2017 | 102 ha | under 1 ha | 102 ha |
| 2018 | 60 ha | under 1 ha | 60 ha |
| 2019 | 37 ha | under 1 ha | 37 ha |
| 2020 | 27 ha | under 1 ha | 27 ha |
| 2021 | 20 ha | under 1 ha | 20 ha |
| 2022 | 28 ha | under 1 ha | 28 ha |
| 2023 | 62 ha | under 1 ha | 62 ha |
| 2024 | 111 ha | under 1 ha | 111 ha |
| 2025 | 140 ha | under 1 ha | 140 ha |
What is causing deforestation around Zanzibar?
- Towns and roadscleared for good91% · 1,540 ha
- Farms, pasture and plantationscleared for good9.2% · 157 ha
Also: 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
- 3,400 ha
- Forest in 2020
- 2,800 ha
- Overall change
- −603 haless forest than in 2000
Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Zanzibar shrank from about 3,400 hectares to 2,800 hectares, a net loss of about 603 hectares (−18%). New forest grew on about 73 hectares, but 677 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 Zanzibar
Same 2 km radius, same index — so they compare directly.
- Kibaha73.9 km
Tanzania
- Tree cover
- 40%
- Air quality
- 47
- Handeni153.9 km
Tanzania
- Tree cover
- 26%
- Air quality
- 43
- Morogoro184.8 km
Tanzania
- Tree cover
- 24%
- Air quality
- 39
- Matuga225.7 km
Kenya
- Tree cover
- 42%
- Air quality
- 53
Also compared:Zanzibar vs DodomaZanzibar vs MwanzaZanzibar vs Arusha
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Frequently asked
Questions about Zanzibar
What is the air quality (AQI) in Zanzibar right now?
The latest reading for Zanzibar shows an AQI of 43 (Good), observed Nov 10, 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 Zanzibar today?
At AQI 43 (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 Zanzibar been like this week?
Over the last 7 days, the CAMS air-quality model put Zanzibar's daily AQI at 49 on average, from 39 on Nov 5 to an hourly peak of 55 on Nov 4. No day averaged above 100, the level where the air turns unhealthy for sensitive groups.
How much forest has the area around Zanzibar lost since 2001?
Since 2001, the area within 10 km of Zanzibar has lost about 1,700 hectares of forest (about 2,400 football pitches): 23% of the forest it had in 2000. Most of it (over 99%) was deforestation, forest cleared for good, mainly for towns and roads. Forest loss has stayed about the same: about 72 hectares a year in 2021–2025, against 60 hectares a year in 2016–2020. Comparing satellite maps from 2000 and 2020, the forest around Zanzibar shrank from about 3,400 hectares to 2,800 hectares, a net loss of about 603 hectares (−18%). New forest grew on about 73 hectares, but 677 hectares were lost.
What is the tree count in Zanzibar?
Zanzibar has an estimated 38,317 trees across the 7.74 km² of land measured — 19.8% tree cover, 10 percentage points short of the 30% tree-cover target set for this area.
How many more trees does Zanzibar need?
Zanzibar needs roughly 19,739 more trees to close a 10-point shortfall against its 30% tree-cover target — about 434.3 t of extra CO₂ absorbed per year once grown.
How are Zanzibar'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 Mwembetanga; the tree count is an estimate derived from that cover.
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