Talawar Gooleppa is from Bhatralli in Chitradurga district of Karnataka. He earned his living by working as a wage labourer. In 1994, there was a plantation by the forest department across 125 acres of land that he protected. Wild boars and bears have attacked him while patrolling the jungle. He saved young trees by watering them from jungle springs in summer. Over 20 years, his efforts have converted a wasteland into a lush green forest.