Jadav Payeng in his traditional Assam home, the humble setting of the man known as India’s “Forest Man.” Over four decades, Payeng single-handedly transformed a treeless Brahmaputra sandbar into the 550-hectare Molai Forest, now home to tigers, rhinos and elephants (photo credit: Lindsey Jean Schueman, One Earth).
At age 16 in 1979, Jadav “Molai” Payeng witnessed hundreds of snakes die under the scorching sun on a barren river island. He planted 20 bamboo seedlings to help stabilise the sandbar. Payeng never stopped planting. Over nearly four decades, this one man’s dedication turned that sandbar into a lush 1,360-acre (550 ha) forest. Today, the Molai Forest supports a thriving ecosystem of over 100 tree and medicinal plant species and iconic wildlife: Bengal tigers, one-horned Indian rhinoceros, elephants, deer, monkeys and numerous birds. The forest’s existence on what was once a shifting sandbar is so extraordinary that Payeng has been celebrated as the “Forest Man of India,” earning India’s Padma Shri award in 2015 for grassroots conservation.
Origins of Molai Forest
The genesis of Molai Forest lies in a flood-driven crisis. In 1979, Payeng’s Mishing community on Majuli Island, Assam, suffered severe erosion and drought. After a monsoon flood washed dozens of pythons and other snakes onto the bare sand, killing them in the heat, the young Payeng resolved to act. He planted the first bamboo shoots himself and tended them carefully. In 1980, the Assam forestry department had launched a five-year experimental tree-planting program on the sandbar (Arunachapori), intending to curb erosion. However, the project was abandoned after just three years when funds ran out. Payeng, then in his late teens, stayed behind while paid labourers left, and volunteered to care for the saplings. Year after year, he planted thousands of new trees on his own initiative.
By patiently nurturing these plantings, Payeng single-handedly created a “people’s forest” from scratch. A United Nations‐supported case study notes that after thirty years of his work, the Molai Forest encompassed roughly 1,360 acres – far exceeding the area of the original government project – and continued to grow. From that solitary beginning in 1979, Payeng’s “mission to plant one tree a day” eventually yielded the vast woodland now called Molaikathoni (“Molai’s woods”).
Ecological Transformation
The Molai Forest represents a dramatic ecological turnaround. What was a shifting sandbar with virtually no soil has become a biologically rich woodland. Surveys and forest photos show dense teak, silk-cotton, arjun, koroi and cottonwood trees (over 100 species) carpeting the terrain, interspersed with bamboo groves. Iconic wildlife now roams freely: Payeng and researchers report herds of elephants (including breeding females), Bengal tigers, one-horned rhinoceroses, deer, monkeys and a plethora of birds (even vultures) using the forest for habitat. In short, Molai Forest is a self-sustaining ecosystem on what used to be a desolate mudflats island.
Scientific analysis confirms that this plantation has approached the ecological function of a natural forest. A recent study compared plant diversity and carbon stocks in Molai Forest with those of a nearby reference forest of similar age. After nearly forty years, the results were striking: the mixed‐species plantation had similarly high species richness and biomass as the natural forest. In other words, Payeng’s mixed‐tree planting sequestered comparable carbon and supported comparable biodiversity to an unplanted forest of the same age. The study concluded that establishing mixed forests on degraded sandbars can be a “viable nature-based solution” for floodplain areas, offering both biodiversity conservation and significant carbon sequestration. In practice, the green cover now shields Majuli from floods and erosion. As Payeng himself observed, “growing vegetation on the riverbank and sandbars could stop erosion,” and Molai Forest is indeed acting as a natural windbreak and soil trap along the Brahmaputra.
Ecosystem Services and Community Benefits
Molai Forest is also a community asset. Payeng calls it a “people’s forest” because villagers derive myriad benefits from it. After decades of growth, the forest now supports hundreds of local people (mostly from the Mishing tribe) who live in huts within or adjacent to the woodland. They gather firewood, fodder, fruits, nuts, and medicinal plants from its undergrowth. In fact, many families settled the sandbar area only after the forest matured; before then, it was simply loose sand. Notably, Molai’s dense understory grasses provide excellent grazing grounds for cattle. Local herders report that keeping livestock here became feasible only because of the forest’s pasture: “Without the forest, it would have been very difficult for us to keep cattle,” says a Mishing farmer. In other words, the trees enabled a new dairy‐based livelihood; villagers now earn income by selling milk.
Key to these outcomes were traditional ecological methods. Payeng used indigenous knowledge to prepare the once-infertile soil: he enriched it with cow dung and organic matter as manure, dug in earthworms to loosen hardened silt, and even employed a local drip-irrigation technique (perforated pots that slowly release water) to nourish saplings. These low-tech innovations gradually turned the mud into arable substrate, letting the trees take deep root. The result is a high-quality soil profile on top of the former sand.
However, this abundance also brought challenges. Around 2008, a herd of wild elephants moved into Molai Forest and began venturing into nearby rice fields, trampling crops and alarming farmers. Initially, some villagers blamed Payeng’s forest for inviting the beasts; there were even angry talks of cutting down sections of the woods to chase the elephants away. Payeng, however, took a community-centred approach. He patiently explained how Molai Forest was protecting the island from erosion and providing other benefits (fodder, firewood, flood mitigation) that far outweighed the crop losses. Gradually, the locals relented. Today, they “have adapted to sharing the forest with elephants,” recognising that their presence is also a sign of ecological health. In this way, Payeng’s stewardship illustrates a balance of conservation justice: he has tried to safeguard both human livelihoods and wildlife.
Policy Context: Forest and Wildlife Laws
India has a rich tapestry of environmental laws and policies aimed at conservation, though their implementation can be uneven. Key statutes include:
- The Forest (Conservation) Act (1980) and the Forest Rights Act (2006): The 1980 Act strictly regulates diversion of forest land, while the 2006 Forest Rights Act (FRA) recognised individual and community rights of traditional forest-dwelling peoples. Under the FRA, forest communities can claim rights over ancestral forest lands and community forest resources, in theory empowering them to manage and restore forests.
- The Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972): This landmark law prohibits poaching and trade of wildlife and enables the creation of protected areas (sanctuaries, national parks) for endangered animals. The tigers, rhinos and elephants now in Molai would be listed under its schedules, requiring their habitat to be preserved.
- Constitutional Mandates: India’s Constitution explicitly commits the state and citizens to environmental protection. Article 48A directs that “the State shall endeavour to protect and improve the environment and to safeguard the forests and wildlife of the country.” Similarly, Article 51A(g) makes it the “duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment”. These provisions have been repeatedly cited by India’s courts in recognising the right to a clean environment.
In practice, however, these laws did not directly create Molai Forest, nor initially help Payeng. FRA could have given formal rights to the Mishing community in the area, but claims under the FRA require lengthy procedures and official recognition. Molai Forest was never officially notified as protected land, and (paradoxically) remains unguarded. Conservationists note that because Payeng’s woodland has no legal sanctuary status, there are no forest wardens assigned there, leaving its rare wildlife formally unprotected. Payeng himself has been reluctant to press for government designation of Molai Forest, fearing that strict “reserved forest” status would bar local people from collecting the very resources they depend on.
Grassroots Action vs. State Initiatives
Payeng’s story highlights a gap between policy and practice. The state’s initial afforestation effort on the sandbar, though well-intentioned, failed due to bureaucracy and budget shortfalls. By contrast, a single dedicated individual achieved lasting results. Only after Payeng’s success did official attitudes begin to change: Majuli district forest officials later expanded tree planting on many river sandbars, adopting Payeng’s model. By 2024, the local forest department had raised 745 hectares of new plantation on Majuli’s islands following the Molai example. Various government agencies also launched reforestation projects on remaining sandbars, and thousands of local volunteers and NGOs joined the “green revolution” inspired by Payeng. This interplay illustrates how grassroots conservation can spur policy uptake. In effect, Payeng acted out of passion rather than waiting for government guidance, and only later did the state begin to follow suit.
Global Reforestation Movements for Context
Payeng’s reforestation model fits into a larger global context of tree-planting movements, each with a different scale and approach. For comparison:
- Kenya – Green Belt Movement: Founded by Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai in 1977, this grassroots movement empowered rural women to plant trees to combat deforestation and soil erosion. Over decades, GBM has overseen the planting of over 51 million trees across Kenya, while also linking forestry to women’s rights and democracy.
- Niger – Farmer-Managed Regreening: In the Sahelian country of Niger, a mostly unheralded achievement has occurred: smallholder farmers began simply protecting and tending native trees on their degraded farmland. Over the past 30 years, this practice has allowed an astonishing 200 million new trees to regenerate naturally on more than 5 million hectares of cropland. This “Great Regreening” – accomplished with little external investment – has substantially increased crop yields and carbon storage.
- China – Three-North Shelterbelt Program: China has launched the world’s largest afforestation campaign, beginning in 1978, to create a “Green Great Wall” against expanding deserts in northern China. By 2024, China reported that its forest cover exceeded 25% of its land area and that since 2012, it has established over 77 million hectares of new forest nationwide. These state-led projects are on a vastly larger scale than Payeng’s work, but like Molai, they aim to stabilise soils and sequester carbon.
Each of these movements shares with Payeng’s work a recognition that forests can be regenerated through local effort. Maathai’s and Payeng’s campaigns, in particular, show how citizen action and environmental stewardship can go hand in hand. However, Payeng’s example is unique in being essentially one man’s project rather than a mass movement or government program. Nevertheless, all these cases underscore that effective reforestation can arise from bottom-up initiatives as much as from top-down plans.
Ethics of Individual Responsibility and Justice
Payeng’s story raises deeper questions about environmental ethics and justice. Legally and morally, Indian citizens are bound by Article 51A(g) to safeguard nature. Payeng took this duty to heart: he has said “we are all connected,” believing that people and nature must exist in harmony. In practical terms, he has prioritised both conservation and community welfare. He allowed villagers to share Molai’s benefits (fuelwood, fodder, water regulation) while also emphasising protection for wildlife. During the elephant conflict, for example, he argued that cutting the forest would bring long-term harm by reigniting erosion, even though coexistence required short-term sacrifice (crop losses) from farmers.
This balancing act speaks to conservation justice: how to distribute environmental costs and benefits fairly. Payeng’s approach has been markedly inclusive: Molai Forest is not his private property but a common reserve. Such an ethic differs from more exclusionary conservation models that segregate humans and wildlife. It suggests a vision where local people share in the stewardship and bounty of restored forests. In essence, Payeng has put into practice the principle that ordinary citizens, not just governments, have a vital role – indeed a duty – in achieving sustainability.
A Legacy of Inspiration
Jadav Payeng’s legacy transcends Assam. His Molai Forest stands as living proof that dedicated individuals can drive large-scale environmental change. The story of the “Forest Man of India” has captured global attention: by 2024, documentaries, news features and even a children’s book had spread word of Molai across continents. In 2015, he received the Padma Shri, one of India’s highest civilian honours, recognising his grassroots conservation impact. Researchers now cite Molai as a model nature-based solution for climate resilience: mixed-species forest plantations like his can buffer flood disasters and sequester carbon, contributing to climate mitigation.
In policy circles, Payeng’s example is being studied and emulated. Majuli’s forest authorities have adopted his techniques, and United Nations frameworks on desertification and reforestation mention community-led afforestation efforts akin to his work. Today, thousands of volunteers in India and beyond are planting trees in the spirit of Molai. This citizen-driven “green revolution” illustrates how one person’s quiet resolve can ripple outward. Jadav Payeng’s life affirms that individual action matters: in an era of climate crisis, his forest reminds us that resilience often begins with personal commitment to the land.
. . .
References: