Madagascar's rainforests at risk

Tropical rainforests have been at risk from deforestation for decades. Whether the cause is from logging, excavation of minerals or palm oil; the result is the same. Madagascar is facing a new demand from its forests - vanilla and it's a matter of life and death.

The global price of vanilla has risen more than tenfold in the last ten years as a result of the demand for vanilla flavouring from wealthy nations and the decline in the amount of vanilla as a result of crop damage from cyclones.  This has led to an increase in farmers choosing this crop to cultivate over other tropical crops.  In Madagascar, the rise of gangs has led to issues for the farmers as they steal the vanilla crop.  The gangs have become so confident over their ability to control the trade, that they even tell the farmers when they will be arriving.  This has led to vigilante groups targeting the gangs and killing them.  Check out the report here for more on this issue...https://www.theguardian.com/en...