The following post was shared on my Facebook page with the title "Never Underestimate the Power of 'One' ":
Lone Indian Man Plants 1,360 Acre Forest single-handedly!!
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A little over 30 years ago, a teenager named Jadav “Molai” Payeng began burying seeds along a barren sandbar near his birthplace in northern India’s Assam region to grow a refuge for wildlife. Not long after, he decided to dedicate his life to this endeavor, so he moved to the site where he could work full-time creating a lush new forest ecosystem. Incredibly, the spot today hosts a sprawling 1,360 acre of jungle that Payeng planted single-handedly.
It all started way back in 1979 when floods washed a large number of snakes ashore on the sandbar. One day, after the waters had receded, Payeng , only 16 then, found the place dotted with the dead reptiles. That was the turning point of his life.
“The snakes died in the heat, without any tree cover. I sat down and wept over their lifeless forms. It was carnage. I alerted the forest department and asked them if they could grow trees there. They said nothing would grow there. Instead, they asked me to try growing bamboo. It was painful, but I did it. There was nobody to help me. Nobody was interested,” says Payeng, now 47.
While it’s taken years for Payeng’s remarkable dedication to planting to receive some well-deserved recognition internationally, it didn’t take long for wildlife in the region to benefit from the manufactured forest. Demonstrating a keen understanding of ecological balance, Payeng even transplanted ants to his burgeoning ecosystem to bolster its natural harmony. Soon the shadeless sandbar was transformed into a self-functioning environment where a menagerie of creatures could dwell. The forest, called the Molai woods, now serves as a safe haven for numerous birds, deers, rhinos, tigers, and elephants — species increasingly at risk from habitat loss elsewhere.
Despite the conspicuousness of Payeng’s project, Forestry officials in the region first learned of this new forest in 2008 — and since then they’ve come to recognize his efforts as truly remarkable, but perhaps not enough.
“We’re amazed at Payeng,” says Assistant Conservator of Forests, Gunin Saikia. “He has been at it for 30 years. Had he been in any other country, he would have been made a hero.”
There are so many areas which used to provide habitats for countless animal species that have been destroyed and mostly - due to human intervention - sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly. And here is one man who decided to dedicated years of time towards rectifying one stretch of land - again providing habitats and support to a bunch of plants and animals as an effective new eco-system had been created - where, previously, nothing grew.
Witin Equal Money Capitalism, each company will have an Environmental Department to firstly prevent and rectify human-created problems in our natural environment - and secondly, to provide additional support to nature in times of, for instance, drought. This answers one of the frequently asked questions in relation to how to achieve Full Employment in a way that no meaningless jobs are created. There is so much to be done when it comes to supporting the world that supports us - that there is definitely no lack of meaningless jobs to be done. Secondly - imagine - when one man dedicates 30 years of his life towards one area - he created a jungle that now houses rhinos, elephants and even tigers! Then, consider - the actual change we can manifest if each company dedicates an entire department towards enviromental support.
We have heard many doomsday stories and yes, the situation is terrible and is deteriorating fast. However, if we pull our socks up and organise our society in a way that supports life - we can actually mitigate and correct much of the damage that has been done in a relatively short timespan.
If we wait on Capitalism and governments within a capitalistic dispensation to devise the exact incentives that may perhaps motivate people to go and change their behavior in a way that we don't destroy the enviroment, we'll still be busy for a very long time - instead of just taking the direct approach by recognising the problems and collectively taking responsibility - not waiting to try to establish 'who is responsible for which specific problem' - that is So irrelevant. Imagine you're reading a history book about a civilisation on a different planet - and just as with us, one species started slowly but surely destroying the planet that gave life to every life form on it - and that, they were too late to correct the problems because the civilisation was too busy trying to establish who should do what in terms of who is to blame for what - and where most people felt they were innocent because they never meant to do any harm - and so, the planet kept bleeding dry and eventually died as well as all life on the planet. Now - wouldn't you think: "Obviously they all died - they should've just dealt with the problems already" - I mean, it's common sense. No one reading such a history book would be concerned with who exactly caused what problem - but readers would instead be anxious to see when the civilisation was actually going to DO SOMETHING.
So - we face the same 'choice' - to simply put our heads towards paving a road that leads to an actual future or to just keep wandering into the abyss. It's really up to us. If you agree - please share this blog on your Facebook, Twitter and other social network sites. We have the time to create a better future, but we don't have the time to ignore the fact that it actually needs to be CREATED.
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