Jadav Payeng’s tribute to nature
In northeast India, a remarkable environmental activist and forestry worker named Jadav Payeng has become a minor international celebrity for single-handedly planting a 1000-hectare forest. A middle-aged man, Jadav Payeng lives with his family near Jorhat in the state of Assam, on a sandbar located on a tributary of the Brahmaputra River
Payeng’s tree planting project began in 1979, when devastating floods washed water snakes onto a sandbar near his home, and he saw how reptiles perished in the fierce heat. This upsetting and formative experience brought home to him the importance of tree cover. It was the motivation behind his heroic tribute to nature.
As a teenager, he joined a forestry program that involved planting out trees on 200 hectares of land a short distance from his present home. When the other participants dispersed after three years, Payeng settled in the area and began his life’s work of planting, one that has sometimes been described as an obsession.
Red ants aerate the soil
In the early stages, he approached the local forestry department for advice, and was told that only bamboo would grow on the sandbar. This was grown in the initial stages, before his afforestation efforts switched to trees. He introduced red ants into the area to aerate the soil, and cow manure to fertilise it.
All of this work occurred under the radar, without any support or subsidies, until 2008, when a group of forestry officials tracked a herd of elephants into the forest after it had damaged the nearby village of Aruna Chapori. Since then, they have shown an active interest in Payeng’s forest and its conservation.
The elephant herd numbers about 115, and visits the forest for about six months every year. In recent times, about 10 elephant calves have been born there. Unfortunately the elephant presence has also brought some problems. Following the 2008 incident, angry villagers took revenge by destroying about 10 per cent of the forest. On the upside, Aruna Chapori has grown in size as settlers are attracted by land that has been made fertile by the nearby presence of the forest.
De facto nature reserve
As well as the elephant herd, among the animals that call the forest home are seven Bengal tigers, three Indian rhinoceroses, more than 100 deer, apes, and a wide variety of birds. Both the rhinos and tigers are rare species, and the forest has become a de facto nature reserve.
Payeng belongs to a tribe called Mishing, and lives with his wife and three children in a small bamboo house with no electricity or water, which is elevated to protect then against the constant risk of flooding. He is a hard worker who gets up every morning at 3.30am, and generates income from sales of milk from his herd of 50 cattle and buffalo.
His forest creation, which is starting to attract tourists and film-makers, has been named Mulai Kathoni (Mulai’s Forest), after his nickname. His current plan is to further extend his planting work to nearby Majuli, the world’s largest river island, and to other parts of India.
 Martin Oliver
