Since 1979, Jadav Payeng - also known as 'the Forest Man' - has been planting approximately one tree every day on a river island in the Brahmaputra River in the Assam region of India. The forest he has created, at around 550 hectares (or 1,360 acres), is larger than Central Park in New York (at 340 hectares).

Payeng's project began as part of a tree plantation scheme run by the Assam Forestry Division. The scheme intended to reforest 200 hectares of forest on one of the Brahmaputra River's sandbars. The 16-year-old Payeng, who belongs to the Mising tribe in Assam, contributed as a labourer by planting trees on the river island of Majuli.

Over the past 70 years, Majuli Island has shrunk in size by a half, although it still remains the biggest river island in the world.

This rapid reduction in size has been caused by considerable soil erosion of the island's banks. Due to accelerating rates of erosion, it has been suggested that the island has fewer than 20 years remaining before it is entirely submerged.

In an attempt to slow down this process, the 5-year reforestation scheme planned to firm up the soil on the island so that it was better equipped for resisting erosion. However, when the scheme ended in 1983, Payeng decided to continue planting trees.

The Assam region of India - Planemad/Wikimedia Commons

Besides tending to the trees that had already been planted, Payeng planted numerous more trees over the course of almost 40 years. At first, Payeng planted bamboo because of its ability to grow incredibly quickly (in fact, the record for the fastest growing plant belongs to one of the ~1000 species of bamboo known to man). However, since then, Payeng has planted a number of other species - forming a complete forest.

As well as reducing the rate of erosion, Payeng's diverse forest has encouraged wildlife to return to the region on a large scale. The Molai Forest - named after Jadav "Molai" Payeng - is now home to rhinoceros, Bengal tigers and a herd of around 100 elephants. In recent years, these elephants have given birth to 10 calves in Payeng's forest.

To earn a living, Payeng runs a farm selling milk. In an interview in 2012, he revealed that he has lost around 100 of his livestock to wild animals in the Molai Forest. Instead of blaming the wildlife, however, Payeng holds those who carry out large scale destruction of the forest responsible for the loss of his cattle and buffalo.

It was only in 2008, after decades of tree planting, that 'the Forest Man' had his endeavours finally recognised by the authorities. Payeng's forest was stumbled upon by local forest department officials when they tracked the aforementioned herd of elephants into his forest - which they were surprised to realise was completely man-made.

A year later, in 2009, a wildlife reporter and columnist named Jitu Kalita, from the nearby city of Jorhat, wrote a column about Payeng's forest in a local newspaper. Later, in 2012, Kalita created a short documentary film about the forest entitled 'The Molai Forest'.

Whether or not the Molai Forest has done enough to save the island from complete erosion remains to be seen. At a minimum, however, Payeng has successfully transformed a barren wasteland into a thriving natural oasis for numerous species of plants and wildlife. In 2015, the Government of India awarded Jadav Payeng the Padma Shri, a prestigious civilian award, for his efforts.

Payeng intends to continue to expand his forest, which now covers an area almost equivalent to that of 800 football (soccer) pitches. He has also delivered a couple of TED talks about his forest, encouraging more projects like his own around the world.

There is a lesson here for all of us. Payeng teaches us that the capacity for one person to single-handedly achieve great things is immense. But it requires dedication - and a desire to pursue a goal without the need for recognition or reward. When Payeng set out to continue the efforts of the Assam Forestry Division's scheme, no one was there to praise him.

No one wrote an article about him. No one offered to film a documentary about his great task. No one gave him the opportunity to deliver a TED talk in front of a large crowd.

Payeng's motives for taking on a challenge as enormous as planting a whole forest clearly did not involve any form of external acknowledgement. This isn't to say that there is anything wrong with seeking assistance or attention - undertaking a project of great benefit to the world, with or without public support or media presence, is commendable. Whether or not attempting to plant a forest by yourself, completely unbeknown to anyone else, is perhaps morally superior to hiring a team of labourers and a film crew is beside the point.

However, the story of the Molai Forest reminds us that not every good thing we do needs to be recognised. The fear that we won't be congratulated for our achievements can easily hold us back. But this kind of reward isn't how we should measure success, and it's certainly not how Payeng would measure his.

Payeng saw innate value in saving his island and restoring an impressive diversity of wildlife to a barren stretch of land. His achievements were only supplemented by the attention he finally received, after decades of labour. Evidently, Payeng's ongoing motivation to plant trees each day did not, and still does not, stem from external validation. Perhaps then, if a task is worth doing, it should be worth doing solely because of its intrinsic worth.

Photo by Rohit Tandon on Unsplash

Of course, great accomplishments are great accomplishments. The amount of attention the intellectual and physical engineers of these accomplishments receive (or not) does nothing to downplay wither the effort or the achievement. But Payeng's story is, nevertheless, worth bearing in mind. The rewards for carrying out an act that benefits humanity or our environment shouldn't need to come solely from the praise we receive from the media, our friends or even our relatives. If you want to achieve something great, and feel fulfilled in doing so, the rewards that are derived from the undertaking itself should be sufficient.

Since Kalita's documentary was released in 2012, the story of Payeng and his vast forest has been picked up by international media, including the National Geographic magazine. In 2013, another short film was created by Polygon Window Productions and Title Media called 'Forest Man'. The documentary, which was part-funded by a Kickstarter campaign, tells the amazing story of Payeng's forest and was screened at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.