The Khalingduar Reserve Forest (RF) is an administrative concept, specifically a Reserve Forest under the Indian Forest Act (likely the 1927 Act), located in the Udalguri district of Assam. It falls under the Dhansiri Forest Division and spans an area of 7,033 hectares (or 70.33 sq km) along the Indo-Bhutan international border. The RF was historically a rich habitat for species like the elephant, tiger, and gaur, and forms a critical wildlife corridor.
As a Reserve Forest, its mechanism involves significant restrictions on community rights, with entry and use often allowed only upon payment of fees, contrasting with the higher protection of a Wildlife Sanctuary under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The forest's history is marked by severe degradation, particularly between 1990 and 2003, due to deforestation, encroachment, and use as grazing land, which decimated 80 to 90 percent of its resources. This habitat shrinkage led to an alarming increase in man-elephant conflict.
Khalingduar RF is a vital component of the Bornadi-Khalingduar complex within the Manas Tiger Reserve and shares a boundary with Bhutan's Jomotshangkha Wildlife Sanctuary. The contiguous landscape is a time-tested corridor for wildlife movement between the two countries. Due to its ecological significance and degradation, there is an ongoing push to upgrade the RF to a Wildlife Sanctuary to enable a better protective mechanism. Recent changes include a habitat restoration pilot launched in August 2026 by Aaranyak, which focuses on removing invasive alien plants and deploying seed balls to facilitate natural forest regeneration. Additionally, a plantation drive of Tora (Alpina) plants was carried out in July 2022 to provide fodder and mitigate the man-elephant conflict.