Ecolife Apparel contracted with iPhactory and created an iPhone app that will do a lot more good than most. Called iPhorest, the app lets you plant a virtual tree. Peaceful, right? The good news is, for every virtual tree you plant, The Conservation Fund will plant a real one. Even better – they are using the application to further their efforts on the US Gulf Coast.

“When most people think about deforestation, they think about the Amazon or even Central America,” said the Fund’s Louisiana state director, Ray Herndon. “What they may not know is that we have lost more than 24 million acres of bottomland, hardwood forest over the last century along the lower Mississippi River valley. Habitat destruction is more pronounced here than in any other area of the United States.”

The first iPhorest “grove” will sprout in Louisiana’s Boeuf Wildlife Management Area and will be managed by a team of foresters and biologists with Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. The group aims to restore as much as 100 acres of forestland here.

Forest restoration along the lower Mississippi River Valley is now one of The Conservation Fund’s highest priorities and requires a creative mix of public and private financing. Opportunities like the iPhorest mean more exposure, and money to get trees in the ground.

The iPhorest application can be downloaded at the Apple Store or at iPhorest.com. To keep updated on the project in Louisiana, subscribe to The Conservation Fund newsletter, or follow them on Facebook.