The Brahmaputra River is one of three major rivers in India, along with the Ganges and the Indus Rivers. The huge island, Majuli, formed on the river, is often flooded by monsoon1 rains. It was once a beautiful island with thick forests, but it turned into a barren land as trees were cut down by loggers.
1. Monsoon refers to seasonal winds blowing between land and sea, changing directions in winter and summer. It occurs in India and Southern Asia.
A sixteen-year-old boy named Jadav Payeng was shocked to see a swarm of reptiles dead because of no shade of a tree on a sandy beach where rivers had subsided. He called the government agency to ask for planting trees, but it was not accepted.
All he could do was to plant trees by himself. He began planting trees one after another. Now that it has been forty years since he began planting trees, there is a huge forest in the place which was like a desert. A variety of wildlife came and built their homes.
“When I first started planting trees in the wilderness, honestly speaking, I thought it would be a waste of time. However, as time went by, trees spread their seeds by themselves and took root.”
A dense forest begins with one tree. If you did something yesterday, and today, and tomorrow, then even small things can make a big difference.