Located in eastern Nigeria, Gashaka-Gumti National Park is a Sudano-Guinean transition zone that forms part of the broader ecotonal region marking the tropical forest–desert transition in Africa. It is the largest forest reserve in Nigeria and hosts several of Africa’s endemic and endangered plant and animal species, including African elephants. Local conservation agencies have identified anthropogenic activities, especially illegal logging, as a leading threat to wildlife and their habitats (vegetation) in the park. However, the role of climate in driving long-term changes in the park is poorly understood, and knowledge of what the park was like in pre-historic times and the role of ancient people is shaping the landscape is limited. Our preliminary palaeoecological study of the park indicates the sensitivity of its vegetation to climate change in past millennia and ancient human landuse may have contributed to creating a mosaic landscape of open and close vegetation in the area for thousands of years, and that forest abundance is only a modern feature of the landscape.