Jadav Payeng, Forester

Jadav “Molai” Payeng is an environmental activist and forestry worker from Majuli. He is famously known as the Forest Man of India. He dedicated his life in planting and tending trees on a sandbar of the river Brahmaputra turning it into a forest reserve. His work helped him bag the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in India in 2015. He was even honoured at a public function arranged by the School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University on 22 April 2012 for his achievement.