Apenisa Waqairadovu 
Tiny ants in Fiji’s forests are farming plants and scientists say the unique relationship could be under threat.
University of the South Pacific PhD researcher Umar Diarra has been studying ants in the upland forests of Vanua Levu and Taveuni.
He says the ants, known as Philidris nagasau, plant seeds, care for the plants and use their waste to fertilise them.
In return, the plants provide the ants with food and shelter.
Diarra has also discovered bacteria inside the plants that may produce natural antibiotics and help protect the plants from disease.
But the ancient relationship is now facing a threat from the invasive white-footed ant.
Diarra says the invasive ants are pushing out the farming ants.
He warns that if the farming ants disappear, the unique plants could also die.
He says protecting Fiji’s forests is vital to saving an ecosystem found nowhere else in the world.
Diarra hopes the research will also encourage more Fijians to study and protect the country’s unique natural heritage.
