Rainforest depletion puts a rare pepper native to Madagascar under threat

The Voatsiperifery pepper, coveted by international chefs, is facing the depletion of its wild habitat through irresponsible harvesting and charcoal production. The rare Voatsiperifery pepper, native to Madagascar and coveted by international chefs, is facing the depletion of its wild habitat through irresponsible harvesting, bush fires, and charcoal production. Madagascar’s natural forests shrank 27% between 1990 and 2025, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, meaning the vines on which the pepper grows have nowhere to climb. In France, the pepper’s main export market, it sells for $167-$222 per kilogram, while at home it has been considered medicinal by the Malagasy people for generations. French-Malagasy entrepreneur Olivier Ramaherison told AFP that he is now experimenting with domesticating the plant to see if the horizontal branches of the vine can mass-produce the pepper closer to the ground.