{"id":190750,"date":"2025-09-29T21:20:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T21:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/190750\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T21:20:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T21:20:14","slug":"la-cumplida-shows-how-coffee-can-restore-ecosystems-and-economies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/190750\/","title":{"rendered":"La Cumplida shows how coffee can restore ecosystems and economies"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the lush highlands of northern Nicaragua, nestled between two natural reserves, La Cumplida isn\u2019t your average coffee farm. Over two decades, massive reforestation and innovative agriculture practices have allowed it to transform the region, showing how a different approach to coffee farming can help restore ecosystems and shore up rural livelihoods.<\/p>\n

The sprawling farm, acquired by French agronomist Cl\u00e9ment Pon\u00e7on in the 1990s, now covers over 5,400 acres in the central valleys of the country. Now led by Cl\u00e9ment\u2019s son Eric Pon\u00e7on, La Cumplida sells shade-grown coffee and hardwood timber, while tending primary forests placed in conservation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the years, Pon\u00e7on and La Cumplida have made long-term investments in agricultural methods that strengthen crop resilience and bolster livelihoods. Coffee is lovingly tucked under a canopy of native trees, improving pollination and reducing pests. When the plants\u2019 leaves fall to the ground, the soil retains more water and birds and insects flourish.<\/p>\n

\"\"Coffee grows under a canopy of trees at La Cumplida. Pedro J. Chavarr\u00eda<\/p>\n

The farm has worked with the Rainforest Alliance to get their practices certified under the organization\u2019s newly announced Regenerative Agriculture Standard<\/a>. The non-profit\u2019s global lead for regenerative agriculture, Juliana Jaramillo, explains that this certification measures the farm\u2019s standards for soil health and fertility, biodiversity, and climate resilience. \u201cWe always look for different practices or areas that deliver multiple benefits,\u201d Jaramillo said. Reducing the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers have lowered farm costs, and allowed different coffee varieties to be planted at the farm. \u201cAs you move into the regenerative space, you start to see that the ecosystem recovers and starts to deliver better services,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Some of the trees that shelter the coffee \u2014 such as mahogany and walnut \u2014 have been sustainably harvested and sold to build homes and schools in the local community, providing the farm an additional income source. La Cumplida focuses on planting a mix of trees and crops so that farmers can harvest multiple products over time, creating a more stable and reliable income. Beyond timber, trees in this canopy produce flowers rich in nectar and pollen, and La Cumplida has recently started selling honey. \u201cWe had the first harvest this past year, and we\u2019re very excited because it\u2019s pesticide-free honey and a product of agroforestry flowers,\u201d Pon\u00e7on said. Next, he hopes to introduce melipona honey, the prized medicinal honey once used by the Mayans and Aztecs for healing and ritual.<\/p>\n

\"\"A coffee plant grows alongside a tree at La Cumplida. Pedro J. Chavarr\u00eda<\/p>\n

These practices have helped biodiversity return to La Cumplida. As with much of Central America\u2019s highlands, Nicaragua\u2019s Matalpa region was deforested in the late 19th century for livestock and coffee farming. But La Cumplida\u2019s approach to coffee crops is now enhancing both the land and the ecosystem\u2019s health. \u201cWe immediately saw the link between birds and the regenerative actions that were on the ground,\u201d said Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez, a quantitative ecologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology who visited the farm in 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since her visit, Ruiz-Gutierrez has worked with the local community to survey birds, collecting information on the ground at the farm and through the worldwide database eBird<\/a>. Warblers, for instance, are one of 240 species of birds now around the farm. These surveys can help tease out how smart agricultural practices can continue to improve the ecosystem. For example, Ruiz-Gutierrez added, farmworkers have learned that leaving more standing dead trees leads to more woodpeckers. \u201cBirds are not just really good indicators \u2014 they\u2019re fun to monitor. Most farmers are very proud of what they protect. The birds are the testament of their labor.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Ruiz-Gutierrez, La Cumplida offers a glimpse of what the future of farming in the region could look like. \u201cI\u2019ve worked in coffee for a long time,\u201d Ruiz-Gutierrez said. \u201cBut the systems that I worked in had not incorporated as many different regenerative practices. La Cumplida is such a big farm, and the family has been committed to sustainability for so long. It\u2019s really unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Birds perched on a tree at La Cumplida. Pedro J. Chavarr\u00eda<\/p>\n

Key to the farm\u2019s success is continuously modifying its approach, says La Cumplida\u2019s director of certification programs, Migdalia Espinoza Luna. \u201cWe\u2019re always looking for alternatives to implement,\u201d said Espinoza Luna, who has worked at La Cumplida for two decades. \u201cOver time, you have to try different coffee varieties, experiment in different kinds of partnerships, and document everything so we can look for areas to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Pon\u00e7on, regenerative coffee production needs to also benefit local farmers and the surrounding rural communities. He\u2019s focused on identifying needs like housing, water access, and education, including holding summer camps for local children. The neighboring communities are made of farmworkers, many of whom are illiterate, Pon\u00e7on said. \u201cInvesting in their needs allows La Cumplida to continue attracting a labor force.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s learned there are some significant barriers for farmers, including steep up-front costs for farm owners and the need to update farmers\u2019 skillsets. \u201cIt\u2019s a long-term investment,\u201d Pon\u00e7on said, while the coffee market is very volatile. Still, studies show that over time, a regenerative approach can increase net farm income by 20 to 30 percent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Experts like Jaramillo of the Rainforest Alliance believe that profit will grow with increasing consumer interest. \u201cConsumers are more and more aware of the benefits of good farming, the benefits of adaptation to climate change, biodiversity conservation, and its links to better health and livelihoods,\u201d Jaramillo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRegenerative agriculture is no longer a choice \u2014 it\u2019s a necessity now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conventional agriculture is one of the biggest drivers of climate change and global biodiversity loss\u2014and continuing business as usual is simply not an option. What if we could radically overhaul our global farming system? What if we could not only reduce the harm it causes, but actively repair damaged ecosystems and heal the health of the Earth? Regenerative agriculture is emerging as one of the most promising answers. Together with millions of farmers and rural workers around the world, the Rainforest Alliance is helping lead the transition towards a more resilient, equitable, and regenerative future for coffee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the lush highlands of northern Nicaragua, nestled between two natural reserves, La Cumplida isn\u2019t your average coffee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-190750","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}