Guwahati, June 15: Forest Man Jadav Payeng's life has inspired a lady from the UK to launch an online campaign through Avaaz.com to urge Unesco to accord World Heritage Site tag to Majuli in Jorhat district.
The woman, Lucy R., created an online petition hailing Payeng's activities and writing about the necessity of giving World Heritage tag to Majuli. If signed by 20,000 people, the petition will be sent to Unesco. So far over 700 people have signed it.
Stating that Payeng had single-handedly planted a forest "larger than New York's Central Park," it added: "Imagine if one man can do this with no financial backing, by simply sharing the seeds from trees, what people around the world can do to their own barren wastelands with time, tenacity and passion?"
"Dear Unesco, we know Majuli island is on your 'tentative' list and that you have rejected the local people's application, but we believe the beauty of the island, this forest (that Payeng has created) and its story could inspire groups of people in barren wastelands around the world and teach us all about saving the world one seed at a time," it wrote.
"Scientists recently announced that in 15 or 20 years Majuli could be completely gone. Not only erosion but poachers and plunderers also threaten the island. Please give it official standing by making it a Unesco World Heritage site now," the petition added.
Appealing to the people to be a part of the campaign the petition wrote, "Your signature will be a signature to get Majuli island listed as one of Unesco's World Heritage site in order to teach everyone around the world how we can all change our environment for the better, given focus, passion, resilience and strength."
Avaaz, meaning, "voice", was launched in 2007 to organise citizens across the globe to campaign for greater causes. The community campaigns in 15 languages and is served by a core team on six continents. It has thousands of volunteers.
Payeng, 52, over the course of several decades, has planted and tended trees on a sandbar of the Brahmaputra, a few kilometres from Majuli, turning it into a forest reserve.
Sound designer Amrit Pritam from Assam has signed the petition and requested others to sign it. "I have signed this petition for a great cause. And I request you to sign this petition as well...Then there will be a very good chance for our beloved Majuli to become Unesco World Heritage Site. And it will be crucial in saving the famous island with the famous xatras (monasteries) and the 150 thousand people that live there," he urged his Facebook friends.
