![]() ![]() ![]() The dense forest bearing his nickname, Molai, now sprawls over 1,300 acres. Payeng has received one of India's highest civilian awards, the Padma Shri, and many other honors. A herd of some 115 wild elephants has been visiting the island since the reforestation. Right: Payeng holds stalks of herbs he has just cut and examines elephant dung left in a clearing in his forest. The traditional homes fashion walls out of sheets made from the strips of bark. Left: Tree bark is fanned out on the ground to be dried and used as building material for local houses. This one killed a buffalo, saw me, and slinked off." "I know that tigers have half the courage of women. He says that he's lost 85 cows and 96 buffalo tigers, and describes coming face to face with one of the big cats that now inhabit the island. Beneath a high canopy he leans against a 30-year-old teak tree with fresh scratches on the bark where a tiger has sharpened its claws. ![]() Payeng guides us to some of the oldest trees he's planted. He smiles and says a hundred different herbs grown on his island make up the recipe for the local beer. He drinks a concoction of herbs every day for his health. Whacking back foliage, this Mishing tribesman separates out poisonous plants from medicinal herbs. "Every day he taught me how to plant trees and care for them. Mist rises from the tall grass that has grown over the island in the last four decades since Jadav Payeng initiated an effort to transform the sandy stretch of land into a vibrant ecosystem. ![]()
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