India's Unsung Heroes

Jadav Payeng, a forest builder from Assam, for environment:

Jadav Payeng, an uneducated layman from Assam is a hero for his effort to turn a flood-washed 550 hectors of sandbar into a thick forest. The sandbar that locates in the center of the Brahmaputra River in Assam has been converted to a dense forest with a massive variety of trees in over 30 years. The forest today houses many wild animals, reptiles and other creatures.

Payeng has been spending whole his lifetime since 1979 for Molai's forest. Molai is the pet name of Payeng, who started his hard work in frustration of a huge flood in 1979, which washed away the trees and habitats of many creatures in the locality. Since then, he has been working in the area, which was lying dejected, plating bamboo first and other trees later on.

As part of making the land fertile for other trees, Jadav depended on many rustic methods like growing red ants and other small creatures. As of now, this single man forest has at least five tigers, a number of elephants and many wild creatures.