Payeng, the man who planted a forest on his own

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THEstory begins over 30 years ago on Majuli Island, India. The small expanse of sand floating on the river is regularly the victim of heavy floods, which could cause its loss in just a few decades. Payeng who lives there with his family had the shock of his lifewhen he discovered a 1979 day of the year hundreds of thousands of inanimate bodies of snakes lying on the ground: “The snakes were dead from the heat, there were no trees to protect them. I sat down and cried over their lifeless bodies. It was carnage. I alerted the forestry ministry and asked if they could plant trees. They replied that nothing would grow here and told me to try planting bamboo. "

While most of us would probably have given up, Payeng rolled up our sleeves instead. The young man, then barely 16 years old, has indeed taken on the task that will become the work of a lifetime.

He began to plant bamboo one by one. After a few years of working alone, the sandbank has become a small bamboo forest. Payeng didn't stop there. " So I decided to grow real trees. I picked them up and planted them. I also brought red ants from my village: Red ants change the properties of the soil. I have been stung several times ”.