Khijadiya Wildlife Sanctuary: Located in the Jamnagar district on the beautiful southern coast of the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat, the Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary (KBS) is a special wetland area. It’s known for being a great place for birds and is considered one of the important bird areas in the state.

About Khijadiya Wildlife Sanctuary

• Khijadiya sanctuary is located in Gujarat.
• It is a freshwater wetland located near the coast of the Gulf of Kutch.
• It was formed following the creation of a bund (dike) in 1920 by the then ruler of the erstwhile princely state of Nawanagar to protect farmlands from saltwater ingress. The sanctuary is now part of Marine National Park, Jamnagar, the first marine national park in the country.
• The sanctuary is also part of the Central Asian Flyway. The site provides habitat to endangered Pallas’s fish-eagle (Haliaeetus leucoryphus) and Indian skimmer (Rynchops albicollis), and the vulnerable common pochard (Aythya ferina).
• The site also regularly supports more than 1% of the south and south-west Asian population of Dalmatian pelicans, more than 2% of greylag goose and more than 20% of common crane.
• Significance: Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary has become the fourth wetland of Gujarat to get the Ramsar tag. Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary, Thol Wildlife Sanctuary and Wadhwana wetland are the other Ramsar sites in the state.

Ecosystem 

• Khijadiya wetland in Jamnagar District is unique because it’s a mix of sweet water lake and coastal saline water marshland.
• This place is famous internationally as a bird sanctuary and is a safe haven for birds.
• Both the sweet water lake and saline marshland are high-value biodiversity areas.
• Every year, about 300 different bird species come to this wetland.
• Eight bird species here are globally threatened or nearly threatened, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Bird Life International.
• Khijadiya serves as a wintering ground for migratory waterfowls from the Palacarcitic region.
• It’s not just a winter retreat; many wetland birds also use it as an important breeding ground.

Other Wetlands of International Importance in Gujarat

The Khijadiya Lake and the Bird Sanctuary forms a part of the wetland ecosystem of Gujarat state, which has 36% of the total wetland area of the country. Gujarat State has eight Wetlands of national importance listed under the National Wetland Conservation and Management Programme (NWCMP), which include

• Nal Sarovar,
• Thol Lake,
• Khijadiya Lake,
• Wadhwana Lake,
• Great Rann of Kachchh (GRK),
• Little Rann of Kachchh (LRK),
• Pariej Lake and
• Nani Kakrad

Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary, Wadhwana Wetland, Nal Sarovar and Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary are Ramsar Sites in Gujarat. There are also 19 other wetlands not identified but deserved to be wetlands of national importance as per the report of the Gujarat State Biodiversity Board, Gandhinagar.

Read Also: Wetlands: A World Within A World