Jadav Molai Payeng-The Forest Man of India

Development that comes with the loss of nature is not development. On the name of development, more than 15 billion trees are cut down each year resulting global warming, deforestation, water shortage, extinction of species. In short a big change in overall eco-system. 
A few days back I was reading an article that there
are only 400 trees are left for every human. It is a big shock for me and may be for you also. But there is always a ray hope in the darkness. You may know many big construction companies doing a giant construction, but do you know any person who has developed a forest? Unfortunately, there are only a few people around the world who are working to prevent deforestation and saving our mother nature. Our today’s blog is about a person who is an inspiration to mankind.

Jadav Payeng-An Inspirational Personality

We know him as ‘Forest Man of India’. We are talking about Jadav Molai Payeng, a common man with uncommon spirit. In today’s time, when people hardly bother about the environment, Payeng turned 550 hectares of barren land into a forest reserve single-handedly. Payeng belongs to Mishing tribe and working as an environmental activist and forest worker in Jorhat, Assam, India. The forest made by him is located adjacent to Kokilamukh of Jorhat in Assam, India. 

How did Jadav Payeng decide to set up his own Forest

Payeng’s love for nature did not occur in a day since his childhood he was concerned about the deforestation in his region. At the age of 16 in 1979 Payeng encountered a large number of dead snakes which died due to extreme heat. When a flood came in the River Brahmaputra, it washed all the snakes onto the barren sandbar. All this incident stunned him to the core and from here the real story this forest man.

The Journey of Jadav Payeng

Distressed Payeng went to the nearby Deori community village to seek help, he told them how snakes are dying without tree cover on the sandbar. The villagers encouraged him to grow trees to save the reptiles and offered him 50 seeds and 25 bamboo plants. With the wisdom of his native, this 16 years old boy alone, single-handedly started planting on tough terrain of the sandbar. 

The Video of Javal Molai Payeng Documentary Video Credit (WELTFILME.org)

                                

In April 1979, he sowed the seeds and shoots. Many time floods stopped his way, but at the end, he could finally reap his forest. He not only looked after the plants but continued to plant more trees. After the 30 years of hard work, he converted an infertile land to a wildlife reserve.

Wildlife in Jadav Payeng’s Molai Forest

The fight started for making a habitat for snakes reached so ahead that today Jadav Molai Payeng's forest is the abode of 5 Bengal tigers, over 100 deer, Indian rhinoceros and countless rabbits. In addition to this, the forest is the home to several varieties of domestic and migratory birds. The list does not end here, a herd of approximately 100 elephants regularly visit Molai's forest every year and stay here for around 6 months.

Jadav Molai Payeng Awards and Contact and Organisation

Jadav Molai Payeng is honoured with Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India. In 2013, he was also honoured at Indian Institute of Forest Management during their annual event Coalescence. We don't have his contact number, but you can write to his organisation at theforestmanofindia@gmail.com or info@JadavPayeng.org Call at 9490069000.