The teenager who began planting bamboo on a bare sandbar
Since 1979 Jadav Payeng has planted and tended trees on an eroded Brahmaputra sandbar in Assam, growing a forest now known as Molai.
The small thing
As a teenager in 1979 Payeng was given a few bamboo plants and began planting them on a bare sandbar in the Brahmaputra.
The problem
River erosion along the Brahmaputra in Assam had cut off and stripped islands to bare sand. After the 1979 floods, the sandbar near Payeng's home offered no shade or habitat, and wildlife died on the exposed sand.
Why Jadav started
After floods in 1979, Payeng saw dead snakes on the hot, shadeless sand. He told NPR the sight made him think that humans too could die in such heat, and he began planting.
What they did
Payeng began with bamboo and other native, low-value plants, and later added trees such as teak. Al Jazeera reported that he planted banana trees to feed wild elephants and keep them from straying into villages. He tended the forest alongside his family's dairy work, delivering milk each morning before going to plant.
In recent years he has spoken widely on tree planting in schools and, according to a 2023 PTI report, has worked with a team of about 50 people planting on a much larger area of Majuli river island.
What changed
Al Jazeera reported in 2014 that the forest covered about 550 hectares and supported wild elephants, tigers, rhinos and deer; NPR (2017) gave a figure of about 1,300 acres. These figures come from media reports rather than a published survey. Payeng has received India's Padma Shri civilian award.
What they learned
Payeng has said he sees nature as sacred and gives it as his inspiration; he argues that tree planting should be taught in schools everywhere.
“When I saw it, I thought even we humans will have to die this way in the heat.”Jadav Payeng, as quoted by NPR (via Michigan Public)
Copy this idea
Practical guidance written by our editors from the sources below. Adapt it to your place, and check local rules and safety first.
- Problem addressed
- Bare, eroded or degraded land near where you live.
- What to do
- Plant and, above all, keep tending native species suited to the site, starting small and expanding over years.
- Materials and resources
- Locally sourced native seedlings or cuttings, simple hand tools, water access, protection from grazing.
- Approximate cost
- Low
- Skills
- Knowledge of local plants and soils; advice from foresters or local elders helps.
- Time
- Years to decades of regular care.
- People needed
- One person can start; landholders and neighbours must agree.
- Difficulty
- Hard
- Risks and limitations
- Planting on land you do not have permission to use; choosing invasive species; wildlife conflict with neighbouring farms; fire.
- How to adapt it
- Smaller versions work as school woodlands, hedgerows or riverbank planting.
- Lessons learned
- Native species and patience matter more than numbers planted; involve neighbours early to avoid conflict.
Why it matters
One forest cannot reverse regional deforestation or river erosion. But Molai shows how sustained planting with native species, over decades, can turn bare ground into habitat, and how local knowledge of wildlife and neighbours is part of the work.
What didn't work
Al Jazeera reported that elephants from the forest damaged crops in nearby villages and some villagers threatened to destroy it; Payeng responded by planting more banana trees. In late 2025 a fire attributed by officials to arson destroyed thousands of saplings in a newer planted section.
Editor's note
Payeng was publicly active in November 2025. In late 2025 a fire, which officials attributed to arson, destroyed more than 5,500 saplings in a newer section planted in 2022 (Outlook Traveller, January 2026).
Sources: how do we know?
Evidence level: Documented. Supported by reliable published sources such as UN agencies, award bodies and reputable journalism. Not yet independently re-verified by our editors. What the person says and what independent sources establish are attributed separately in the text.
- reputable journalism
A lifetime of planting trees on a remote river island: meet India's 'Forest Man' — Julie McCarthy, NPR (via Michigan Public), 26 December 2017Supports: 1979 start after seeing dead snakes; Mishing farmer; erosion cut the island off; ~1,300 acres; quote. - reputable journalism
India's forest man — Al Jazeera, 23 January 2014Supports: Bamboo first, later teak; bananas for elephants; ~550 ha; wildlife; dairy work; conflict with villagers. - reputable journalism
Forest Man of India wants tree plantation to be taught at schools in world — Deccan Herald (PTI), 21 March 2023Supports: Padma Shri awardee; team of about 50 planting on Majuli; call for tree planting in school curricula. - reputable journalism
Man-made forest created by 'Forest Man of India' damaged in fire — Outlook Traveller, 2 January 2026Supports: Fire attributed to arson destroying more than 5,500 saplings planted in 2022. - reputable journalism
Jadav Payeng calls for green tribute to Zubeen Garg across Assam — EastMojo, 11 November 2025Supports: Payeng active and speaking publicly in November 2025.