Man transforms barren island by planting a tree everyday for 39 years

Woodland, covering 1,360 acres, is home to Bengal tigers, rhinos, vultures and 115 elephants

An Indian man has been able to create the world's largest river island after planting a tree everyday for 39 years, Mail Online reported.

Jadav Payeng, who lives in Assam was alarmed by the devastation caused to the land after a bout of extreme flooding and drought back in 1979.

Attempting to prevent further erosion to his homeland, the then 16-year-old decided he would plant a sapling in the barren soil every day for the foreseeable future and now, 39 years on, his woodland covers 1,360 acres and it is home to Bengal tigers, rhinos, vultures and 115 elephants.

Payeng's endeavours exploits did not come to light until 2007, when he was found seeding his forest by photo journalist and wildlife enthusiast Jitu Kalita.

PHOTO COURTESY: MAIL ONLINE

Kalita had hired a boat to take pictures of birds around the Brahmaputra river, which flows around Majuli Island, and while paddling through the shallow waters he spotted something unusual.

Telling his story in the documentary Forest Man, which has amassed more than 2.7million views on YouTube, Kalita says "I saw something strange… it looked like a forest far in the distance".

"I began walking towards it and when I reached it I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had found a dense forest in the middle of a barren wasteland".

Payeng said he thought Kalita was a poacher when he first spotted him, on the hunt for rhinos or tigers, but he was surprised to learn that his visitor was in fact a journalist.

Kalita was fascinated by Payeng's story and spent time learning about his lifetime's work.

Payeng, who makes money with his wife selling cows' milk to local villages, remains dedicated to his forest and says he will continue to plant saplings and seeds until his "last breath".

He said at first that planting was very time consuming but now it's much easier because the trees seed themselves.

Meanwhile on the wildlife front, stocks have flourished naturally.

PHOTO: MAIL ONLINE

But now the difficulties Payeng faces include threats from poachers and illegal loggers.

"Humans consume everything until there is nothing left. Nothing is safe from humans, not even tigers or elephants," he said.

The article originally appeared in Mail Online