The Assam Government has issued a preliminary notification for declaring the Behali Reserve Forest (RF) as a wildlife sanctuary. The move fulfils a long-standing demand from conservation circles. A gazette notification published on May 4 marks a 157.25 sq km area under the Borgang Forest Range in the Sonitpur East Forest Division of Biswanath district as Behali Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary area comprises mostly the 140-sq km Behali RF besides Chenglijan RF. According to conservationists, the government move has come at the right time given that the biodiversity-rich Behali RF has been caught in a grim battle of survival for years in the face of large scale encroachment and illegal logging, news reports said.