Jadav Payeng
Jadav Payeng | |
|---|---|
 Jadav Payeng | |
| Born | Jadav Payeng 1963 (age 60–61) |
| Other names | Molai |
| Occupation | Forester |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Spouse | Binita Payeng |
Jadav "Molai" Payeng (Assamese: যাদৱ পায়েং) is a Mishing tribe [1]environmental activist [2] and forestry worker from Jorhat, India.[3][4] Over the course of several decades, he planted and tended trees on a sandbar of the river Brahmaputra turning it into a forest reserve. The forest, called Molai forest after him,[5] is located near Kokilamukh of Jorhat, Assam, India, and encompasses an area of about 1,360 acres / 550 hectares.[6]
Career
In 1979, Payeng, then 16, encountered a large number of reptiles that had died after floods washed them onto the tree-less sandbar.[7] He started working on the forest in 1980 when the social forestry division of Golaghat district launched a scheme of tree plantation on 200 hectares at Aruna Chapori situated at a distance of 5 km from Kokilamukh in Jorhat district. Molai was one of the labourers who worked in that project which was completed after five years. He chose to stay back after the completion of the project even after other workers left. He not only looked after the plants, but continued to plant more trees on his own, in an effort to transform the area into a forest.
The forest, which came to be known as Molai forest, now houses Bengal tigers, Indian rhinoceros, over 100 deer and rabbits besides apes and several varieties of birds, including a large number of vultures.[6] There are several thousand trees, including valcol, arjun (Terminalia arjuna), ejar (Lagerstroemia speciosa), goldmohur (Delonix regia), koroi (Albizia procera), moj (Archidendron bigeminum) and himolu (Bombax ceiba). Bamboo covers an area of over 300 hectares.[8]
A herd of around 100 elephants regularly visits the forest every year and generally stay for around six months. They have given birth to 10 calves in the forest in recent years.[8]
His efforts became known to the authorities in 2008, when forest department officials went to the area in search of a herd of 115 elephants that had retreated into the forest after damaging property in the village of Aruna Chapori, which is about 1.5 km from the forest. The officials were surprised to see such a large and dense forest and since then the department has regularly visited the site.[8]
A few years back, poachers tried to kill the rhinos staying in the forest but failed in their attempt due to Molai who alerted department officials. Officials promptly seized various articles used by the poachers to trap the animals.[8]
Molai is ready to manage the forest in a better way and to go to other places of the state to start a similar venture. Now his aim is to spread his forest to another sand bar inside of Brahmaputra .[9][10]
Personal life
Jadav Payeng belongs to a tribe called "Mishing" in Assam, India. He lives in a small hut in the forest. Binita, his wife, and his 3 children (two sons and a daughter) accompany him.[6] He has cattle and buffalo on his farm and sells the milk for his livelihood, which is his only source of income.[6] In a recent interview he revealed that he lost around 100 of his cows and buffaloes to the tigers in the forest, but blames the people who carry out large scale encroachment and destruction of forests as the root cause of the plight of wild animals.[9]
Honours
Jadav Payeng was honoured at a public function arranged by the School of Environmenal Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University[11] on 22nd April, 2012 for his remarkable achievement. He shared his experience of creating a forest in an interactive session, where Magsaysay Award winner Rajendra Singh and JNU vice-chancellor Sudhir Kumar Sopory were present. Sopory named Jadav Payeng as "Forest Man of India".[12] In the month of October 2013, he was honoured at Indian Institute of Forest Management during their annual event Coalescence.
A locally made documentary, Jitu Kalita’s Forest Man of India, was screened at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Jitu Kalita, who lives near Payeng’s house, has also been feted and given recognition for good reporting by projecting the life of Payeng through his documentary.
Jadav Payeng and Molai forest have been featured in 2013 film documentary ''Foresting life'',[13][14] directed by the Indian documentary filmmaker Aarti Shrivastava.
Jadav Payeng and Molai forest have been featured in William Douglas McMaster's 2013 film documentary Forest Man.[15] People have pledged 8,327 USD on the Kickstarters campaign[16] for the post-production of this documentary in early 2013. Documentary will be displayed at 2014 Cannes Film Festival.
See also
External links
- Foresting Man
- Assam: Green warrior Jadab Payeng plants trees at isolated sand bar, Arijit Sen, CNN-IBN. Published on Apr 12, 2013.
- The man who made a forest
- Man creates forest on Brahmaputra sand bar
- One of the Greatest Achievements of the Human Race
References
- ^ "The Strange Obsession Of Jadav Payeng".
- ^ "Jadav Molai Payeng – the 'Forest Man of India', Current Science, 25 February 2014" (PDF). Retrieved 21 March 2014.
- ^ "The man who made a forest - The Times of India". The Times Of India.
- ^ "Strombo – This Guy's A One-Man Forest-Planting Machine". CBC News.
- ^ Jadav "Molai" Payeng, greenjacketmoments.com, access date: 03-11-2012
- ^ a b c d Mosbergen, Dominique (2012-04-03). "Indian Man, Jadav "Molai" Payeng, Single-Handedly Plants A 1,360 Acre Forest In Assam". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
- ^ "Incredible story of Persistence and Devotion: Jadav Payeng Single-handedly Converts a Sandbar into a Prosperous 1,360-acre Forest". Success Stories. Retrieved February 11, 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Man creates forest single-handedly on Brahmaputra sand bar". The Asian Age. Retrieved March 6, 2013.
- ^ a b "One of the Greatest Achievements of the Human Race – Jadav Payeng". Ajith Kumar. CC. 2012-08-03. Retrieved 2012-12-31.
- ^ "Real Eco Heroes | ecotourismsocietyofnortheast". Ecotourismsociety.in. Retrieved 2012-12-31.
- ^ Green Crusader, Dr. Arun Kr. Deka published at The Assam Tribune newspaper
- ^ Manimugdha S Sharma Apr 24, 2012, 04.38AM IST (2012-04-24). "JNU honours 'forest man' on Earth Day - Times Of India". Articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2012-12-31.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Foresting life". Humanity Watchdog. Retrieved 29 April 2014.
- ^ Foresting life 2013 at IMDb
- ^ Forest Man 2013 at IMDb
- ^ "Forest Man post production". 14 February 2013. Retrieved 29 April 2014.