The Story of Morgan’s Rock Hacienda & Ecolodge

Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge is owned by the Ponçon Family. Clément-Marie and Claire Ponçon are originally from the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France and first came to Nicaragua in 1974 where Clément had an assignment from the French Foreign Ministry to provide technical assistance to the Nicaraguan Central Bank (DIT).

In 1981, because of political instability and turmoil they moved to Costa Rica leaving many dear friends and a few agricultural properties behind. As opposed to most Nicaraguan families, as foreign nationals, they were not expropriated therefore decided to return to Nicaragua and settle down ‘for good’ in 1991 once the democratic government of Mrs. Violeta Barrios de Chamorro had taken over and the civil war had settled down.

Clément has said that after visiting over 70 tropical countries around the world, he was most intrigued by Nicaragua and has continuously invested over the years in agricultural ventures such as coffee, cut-flowers, citrus and hardwood plantations. Today he heads a team of over 1,000 workers and runs farms in the north, center and south of the country.

Claire Ponçon is the driving force behind the NicaFrance Foundation. This foundation is supported by local and international companies and is working on sustainable development projects in Nicaragua, mostly involving children and education. Currently, the efforts are concentrated in northern Nicaragua, but with the opening of Morgan’s Rock Hacienda & Ecolodge, the foundation is about to start projects in the San Juan del Sur and Rivas area close to the lodge.

Some of the successful work done by the foundation includes the improvements of schooling conditions and therefore higher enrollment and lower absentee rates. Thanks to the foundation’s work in the area of Matagalpa, over 600 children get fed in school every day. Another important part of the foundation’s efforts are education in hygiene and health through education and by introducing septic systems and regularly scheduled doctor visits. Most recently the foundation has helped set up a program of the local community baking bread and supporting a traditional folk dance group. One of the biggest challenges at this time is the supply of clean drinking water to the community. If you are interested in helping with this foundation, please contact Claire Poncon at fundnicf@ibw.com.ni .

Their oldest son Eric is a graduate of the Agriculture and Business School at Cornell University . He currently resides with his wife Carolina and his children in Mexico City . Eric has been one of the driving forces behind the Morgan’s Rock lodging project. He is also the founder of a sailing project for children on Lake Nicaragua on the Granada shore called Optimistas de Nicaragua. Details on this project can be found on the website at ( www.optimistasdenicaragua.com ).

Their younger son Arnold is about to finish his studies as an industrial engineer. He is the family’s fishing expert, resides in Managua , and is working part-time at the Nicaraguan Stock Exchange.

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Clément-Marie purchased the farm where Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge is located in 1998. A section of the farm with most primary rainforest left standing was immediately declared a private forest reserve and a large scale reforestation and conservation project started on the rest of the property.

The squatters that lived on the farm and hunted wildlife, cut down trees and stole turtle eggs were convinced to leave the property or start on the farm’s payroll to become loyal employees. Local guards were trained in conjunction with the local police to stop hunting in the forest and during nesting season, ‘bay watchers’ were placed along the beach to ensure that sea turtle eggs would be left and within weeks the baby sea turtles would make it safely into the Ocean.

Within five years of buying the farm, over one million native hardwood and fruit trees were planted for tree farming purposes and for enrichment of the local flora and fauna. Today, the farm is back to life and increased hatchings of sea turtles, the successful reintroduction of iguanas and more and more frequent sightings of sloths, howler-, spider- and white face monkeys.

A recent study by the Natural Ressource Ministry – Marena - revealed that the Hacienda hosts almost the same amount of wildlife as the nearby La Flor National Park. Furthermore, traditional agricultural techniques are used to work the farm and a variety of crops such as rice, corn and yucca are raised with organic practices.

In 2003, the farm’s tree farming and reforestation activities were certified by Smartwood a program of the Rainforest Alliance a non profit organization committed to the conservation, restoration and protection of the world’s working forests under Forest Sterwardship Council (FSC) standards and guidelines.

This means that the farm now grows “certified wood” and fulfills a variety of environmental and social requirements following international standards. For more information on the Forest Stewardship Council visit www.fscoax.org .

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In the late 1990s, Nicaragua started to look south to Costa Rica and the boom in tourism, trying to create its own tourism industry, often referred to as the “industry without chimneys.”

In 2000 the Poncon Family investigated various options for the development of a tourism project on their property particularly so through a grant program from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) that granted support to hire international consultants and experts.

No one in the family was at all enchanted by the idea of massive hotel developments, possibly with golf course and potentially 200 to 300 guests. Clément decided to plant another 30,000 trees on the area that was pointed out by most consultants as potential golf course to make sure this would never happen.

In 2001, thru mutual acquaintances the Ponçon’s contacted American visionaries John and Karen Lewis who own Lapa Rios, an ecolodge resort in Costa Rica located on the Osa Peninsula ( www.laparios.com ).

Lapa Rios is a world renowned ecolodge hotel that has received various quality and environmental awards such as Conde Nast Travler’s Reader’s Choice Awards and British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award.

Clément and Claire found great hope in John and Karen´s vision of sustainable development; - conservation of nature, education and development of local communities was something that had always appealed to them and they could easily relate with.

John and Karen Lewis visited Morgan’s Rock Eco Lodge site and generously enjoyed seeing how other people got inspired by their vision of sustainable tourism.

It all then became history; the company that manages Lapa Rios Eco Resort in Costa Rica, Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality ( www.cayugaonline.com ), developed a feasibility study for a 15 room ecolodge resort and together with the owners created Morgan’s Rock Hacienda and Ecolodge, a pioneer project in tourism development in Nicaragua, being the first hotel seeking to combine strict ecological guidelines, following the CST (Certification for Sustainable Tourism) guidelines developed in Costa Rica and appealing to an upscale market providing high levels of service and world class hotel facilities.

The bungalows and public areas of the hotel have been designed by Matthew Falkiner a young British architect that has lived in Nicaragua for the past ten years. He has managed to combine local materials, traditional building styles and comfort to create one of Latin America ’s most intriguing ecolodges.

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