Steve Fitch

The CEO and Founder of Eden Reforestation Projects, Dr. Stephen Fitch, grew up in the Philippines with a love for exploration and nature. As an avid diver and outdoor enthusiast, he was shocked to return to his boyhood home in 1997 and find the large scale environmental destruction that had taken place. The jungles he used to play in had been cut down, the topsoil was eroding into the ocean as a result of deforestation, and the coral reefs he used to dive through and explore were being smothered from all the soil runoff.

Witnessing this type of ecological destruction in a place he called home, left a lasting impression. An impression that would then help pave the way for the creation and impact of Eden Reforestation Projects

In 1998 Steve had the opportunity to begin working in Ethiopia and witnessed the same devastation and tragic consequences of deforestation on the lives of the local communities and the environment around them.

In 2004, while in Ethiopia, Stephen received a surprising request from President Haile Mariam of the Southern People’s Region to take over a failed seedling nursery and forest restoration project. Seeing this as an opportunity to make an impact and help reverse the devastating effects of deforestation he witnessed in the Philippines and elsewhere in the world, he answered with a definite ‘YES!’.

Funds were raised, staff came together, and now, almost 14 years later, Eden Reforestation Projects has planted over 210 million trees in Ethiopia, Madagascar, Haiti, Nepal, Indonesia and Mozambique. Eden Projects has also employed thousands of impoverished villagers, leading to a transformed socio/economic life.

Four million more trees are added every month to the growing total.

As CEO and Founder of Eden Projects, Steve’s job is to ensure that Eden’s mission to "Plant Trees - Save Lives” ends up representing far more than mere words.