Jadev Payeng, Selfless Action

"Jadav's work was entirely anonymous. For 30 years, nobody in the outside world knew what he was doing. He lived a simple life, raising cattle and selling milk to survive. In 1979, Jadav was a 16-year-old boy living in Assam, India, on the banks of the massive Brahmaputra River. That summer, an intense flood washed hundreds of snakes and other wildlife onto a huge, barren sandbar. When the floodwaters receded, the heat was so brutal, and the sandbar so hot, that all animals died. Sitting among the dead creatures, the teenager wept. For the next 40 years, Jadav dedicated his days to transforming the area to support life. Every single morning, he would cross the river by boat at dawn to fertilize, irrigate and plant seeds. Today, the sandbar is now the Molai Forest and is full of life. Jadav Payeng has received some of India's highest honors, but he still lives a simple life, waking up at dawn and managing his forest."

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