Meet India's Forest Man: You'll Have To Kill Him Before You Kill The Trees
A humble farmer from a marginalized tribal community takes on a solo mission to reforest an island in the northeastern state of Assam.
by Julie McCarthy
Dec 26, 2017
4 minutes
On a journey to the little known Northeast region of India, you may encounter a dizzying array of traditional tribes, rugged beauty and wildlife, including the rare white rhinos. It's here we discover perhaps an even rarer creature: the "Forest Man of India." A humble farmer from a marginalized tribal community, Jadav Payeng has single-handedly changed the landscape in his state of Assam.
Payeng, 58, is reclaiming an island in the mighty Brahmaputra river where increased flooding has changed the flow and built up sandbars along the long stretch of the river that runs through the middle of Assam.
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