India - tree cover. This dataset accompanies the manuscript <i>“Variable linkages between afforestation programs and tree cover outside of forests in India”</i>

The dataset enables quantitative analysis of how different policy mechanisms influence tree cover outside legally recorded forests. It integrates financial data on eight major central government schemes—including the Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF), Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), National Afforestation Programme (NAP), Green India Mission (GIM), National Horticulture Mission (NHM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), National Bamboo Mission (NBM), and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)—with three independent satellite-derived tree cover datasets:<b>Forest Survey of India (FSI)</b> – Trees outside forests (23.5 m resolution)<br><br><b>MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields</b> – Cropland tree cover (250 m resolution)<br><br><b>Brandt et al. 2024</b> – Individual farmland trees (90 m grid from PlanetScope imagery)<br><br>Associated control variables include state GDP, rainfall, road construction under PMGSY, mangrove and bamboo cover, and night-time lights (VIIRS). The data are formatted for panel regression analysis at the state-year level and support replication of results reported in the paper and supplementary tables.All monetary values are in Indian Rupees (INR). All geographic units correspond to India’s 27 major states; Telangana and Union Territories are excluded due to data limitations.<b>License and Attribution</b>This dataset is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Users may share and adapt the material for any purpose, provided that appropriate credit is given to the authors and to all original data providers, a link to this license is included, and any changes are indicated.<b>Primary Data Sources Integrated</b>This compilation draws upon publicly available information from the following categories and agencies:<b>National afforestation and rural development programs:</b> – <i>Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)</i> – Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India – <i>Sub-Mission on Agroforestry (SMAF)</i>, <i>National Horticulture Mission (NHM)</i>, <i>National Bamboo Mission (NBM)</i>, <i>Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY)</i> – Ministry of Agriculture &amp; Farmers’ Welfare – <i>Green India Mission (GIM)</i>, <i>National Afforestation Programme (NAP)</i>, <i>Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAMPA)</i> – Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change<br><br><b>Official documentation and parliamentary sources:</b> – Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha Unstarred Questions and Answers (2013–2023) – Press Information Bureau releases – Open Government Data Platform (https://data.gov.in)<br><br><b>Environmental and socioeconomic indicators:</b> – <i>India State of Forest Reports</i> (2017–2023), Forest Survey of India – <i>MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields (MOD44B)</i>, NASA Earth Observing System – <i>Trees on Farmland (Brandt et al. 2024)</i>, <i>Nature Sustainability</i> 7: 860–868 – <i>CHIRPS Precipitation Data</i>, University of California Santa Barbara – <i>VIIRS Nighttime Lights V2.1</i>, NOAA Earth Observation Group – <i>Handbook of Statistics on Indian States</i>, Reserve Bank of India – <i>Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana</i> (PMGSY) Road Data, Ministry of Rural Development<br><br>All data were aggregated to the state-year level and harmonized into a consistent panel dataset covering 2013–2023.<b>Disclaimer</b>These data are provided <i>as is</i> without warranty of any kind. The authors and their institutions make no representations about the accuracy or completeness of the data and accept no liability for any use, interpretation, or derivative analyses.<br>