Once the forest robes were ritually accepted by Phrakhru Pitak, he and the highest-ranking monk present accepted the seedlings, thus sanctifying them and conferring merit on the donors and the participants.
A few of the seedlings were planted around the temple grounds and at the site of the tree ordination as pan of the ceremony.
Most were given to the villagers to reforest areas that had been denuded, following the pattern established by phaa paa ceremonies conducted to raise development project funds.
These new trees were chosen carefully; they were species, such as fruit trees, that were profitable without having to be cut down.
Having been sanctified and given by the monks further protected them, as the villagers would see cutting them as a form of religious demerit (baap).