Life of Jadav Payeng , the Forest man of India who grew about 550 hectare of forest on barren land in 35 years

Jadav Payeng known to the local as "Molai" is an environmental activist from Jorhat in Assam state of India. He worked for Assam Forest department as a labour.



He is credited with turning of a tree less sandbar of the river Brahmaputra, which was a barren wasteland into a dense forest which currently is the home for variety of animal species including Rhinos, Bengal tigers, Apes, Vultures, Deers, Rabbits, Elephants and other reptile species. He grew about 550 hectare of forest in 35 years. The island is called "Majuli" near Aruna Chapori.



Molai came to Aruna Chapori in 1980 as a one of the labourers employed in a project of planting trees at the sandbar by forestry division of Golaghat district of Assam. Other workers left the place after the completion of the project, but Molai stayed there planting more trees on his own, in an effort to transform the area into a forest. After Payeng this area is known as "Molai Forest".

His amazing work got attention from forest authorities in 2008 and they were wondered to see such a large and dense forest.

"The Molai Forest" Documentary film by Jitu Kalita in 2012
life of Jadav Payeng came to public notice following a locally made short documentary film called "The Molai Forest" by Jitu Kalita in 2012.




"Forest Man" 2013 Documentary film by William Douglas McMaster on Jadav Molai Payeng's life
Payeng's effort got an international recognition after the Documentary film made by William Douglas McMaster in 2013 called "Forest Man".