COMMUNITY
MORGAN’S ROCK
San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
Morgan’s Rock, a 15-room bungalow-style lodge on the Pacific Coast, is a small part of a large environmental effort.
In 1998, when Clément-Marie Ponçon and his wife, Claire,
bought the 3,400-acre farm where the hotel is located, they
immediately put their stamp on the land: an extensive
reforestation-and-preservation program was undertaken,
and a portion of the property with a rain forest was declared
a nature preserve. The Ponçons, who moved to Nicaragua
in 1974 and own large tracts of land there with two other
farms, also fund and operate the NicaFrance Foundation,
an organization dedicated to improving education and
health care. “They are an amazingly entrepreneurial family
who truly believe in Nicaragua,” says Matthew Falkiner, an
architect who designed the lodge and public spaces and,
with the family, also co-owns a furniture company employing local craftsmen. “They have been here through the
good, bad, and indifferent times.” In addition to running a
dairy farm and growing food for hotel guests, the family has
planted more than one million trees on the property, an
activity certified by the Rainforest Alliance’s SmartWood
program. Guests can contribute by replanting depleted
hardwood trees and farming using traditional methods, all
under the direction of licensed guides. There are, however,
no plans for an expansion of the lodge. “Clément was once
visited by some consultants who were looking into how they
might invest in Nicaragua,” Falkiner says. The consultants
pointed out a parcel of land they thought would make a
perfect site for a 200-room hotel, complete with an 18-hole
golf course, and a clubhouse. Ponçon’s response? According
to Falkiner, “He planted more trees.” —Martin C. Pedersen
The owners of Morgan’s
Rock, the Ponçons,
fund and operate the
NicaFrance Foundation,
an organization dedicated
to improving education
and health care.
Left: The Morgan’s Rock
Hacienda & Ecolodge is
located on the Pacific Coast,
just north of the Costa Rican
border. Bottom left: Matthew
Falkiner, a British architect,
built the guest bungalows
and public spaces using
indigenous materials and
local craftsmen. Below:
The small lodge is part of
a 3,400-acre property that
also includes a dairy farm,
a nature preserve, and a
rain forest.
Courtesy Morgan’s Rock
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