How Thai monks use sacred saffron rituals to save trees

On the morning of July 11, three saffron-robed monks and a dozen devotees gathered in a dense forest of Thailand’s Chaiyaphum province. After chanting prayers, they encircled a towering tree, draping it in a vivid orange cloth – the same used to robe ordained monks.

This was no ordinary Buddhist ritual, but part of a growing practice called tree ordination – a symbolic act that “ordains” endangered trees as monks to protect them from logging and development.

Part spiritual blessing and part environmental activism, the ritual is at the heart of a growing movement among Thailand’s “forest monks”, who are tweaking centuries-old traditions to confront modern ecological collapse.

“Buddhists respect monks very much. When they see the yellow robe and shaved head, they show respect … The yellow robe represents the victory of the Buddha and his teachings. It represents sainthood,” said Venerable Dhamma Caro, a monk at Wat Pa Mahawan in northeastern Thailand, who took part in the tree ordination ceremony.

“When we wrap the tree with this yellow robe, it becomes a monk – ‘a saint-tree’. That is why people don’t hurt it. In a Buddhist country, if you harm a monk or kill a monk, it is [considered] very, very sinful. That is why we ordain the tree,” he added. “It is very effective.”

Roots of the ritual