Padmashree Jadav Payeng, the Forest Man of India. Has created what is arguably the largest man-made forest by one man on this planet; he kept on planting trees near where he was born, a place called Arunachapori, near Kokilamukh, Majuli district, for over 30 years, before the world discovered and embraced him as the ‘Forest Man of India’. Over the course of several decades, he planted and tended trees on a sandbar of the river Brahmaputra turning it into a forest reserve. The forest, called 'Molaikathoni' or 'Molai's forest' after his nickname 'Molai,' encompasses an area of about 1,360 acres and inhabited by hundreds of deer, rabbits, monkeys, reptiles, birds, Royal Bengal tigers, rhinos and elephants.

While joining the Walk For Water team as a distinguished Patron, he said that we must use water and all natural resources judiciously or the next generations will suffer. Water is life sustaining and the future of all life systems on earth is threatened due to changes in precipitation changes caused by climate change. The Forest Man of India has won numerous awards and honors from all over the world.