I was pleased to read in a New Scientist magazine article that a rare bird not seen for 24 years has been confirmed as alive in Madagascar's forests. Two teams went to the forests on high mountain slopes, as this is where most remaining wooded areas are in Madagascar. But then I read the sentence "The second team's efforts didn't go smoothly at first, as it was discovered that much of the target region near Andapa had been turned into vanilla farms."
[www.newscientist.com]
Yet another example of how our seemingly small and innocent purchases impact ecosystems around the world.
I found this other article about the issue [news.mongabay.com]

Thanks for pointing this out! Vanilla is grown in Tahiti, Niue, Samoa and Tonga - a Google search will give details. I've been able to purchase the Tongan product locally.