Human settlements are the fastest growing habitats available for wildlife, especially in developing countries that are experiencing rapid population growth. There is therefore need to ensure that the removal of natural vegetation resulting from human settlement expansion and agriculture does not lead to extinction of wildlife that depend on the seasonal availability plants that are differently distributed. Tropical savannah birds switch between plants that fruit at different parts of the year or move to habitats where these fruits are seasonally available. This ensures that food is readily available to them and that plants are also adequately dispersed. Thus, the absence of key plant species from particular habitats is likely to result in food limitation, population decline and inefficient dispersal of plants. The Amurum Forest Reserve is a relatively small Important Bird Area (IBA) holding over 350 bird species and other wildlife. This entails that animals utilize surrounding habitats complementarily.

However, settlement expansion around the reserve is posing a major threat to the capacity of these surrounding areas to complement the reserve. Selective vegetation removal for residential housing and gardens are making the reserve increasingly isolated. There is no documentation of land use and plant composition in surrounding habitats. We intend to carry out a detail inventory of fruiting plants within and outside the reserve and also determine the distribution and seasonality of such plants to find out which species are being impacted by human activities. We will produce a map of plant distribution and human activities around the reserve and will form an important reference card for the future monitoring of the reserve. A long term goal is to establish complementarity through understanding specific avian plant utilization and maintaining a plant species composition that supports food availability year round for birds and other wildlife between habitats. We also intend to influence decisions of inhabitants on retaining natural vegetation in surrounding human settlements by highlighting the benefits of natural vegetation to the protection of human inhabited areas.