Explanation:

Wetlands :

• Wetlands are areas intermediate in character between deepwater and terrestrial habitats, also transitional in nature, and often located between them.
• Recently Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary near Jamnagar in Gujarat and Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh have been listed as Wetlands of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands. 
• This announcement by the Ramsar secretariat in Iran came on the eve of International Wetlands Day (February 2). With this, the total number of Ramsar sites in India goes up to 48.
• Khijadiya, which is part of the Central Asian Flyway, 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. The last two were included in April last year.
• Khijadia Wildlife Sanctuary is a freshwater wetland near the coast of the Gulf of Kutch, 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.
• Bakhira Wildlife Sanctuary, a freshwater marsh in the Sant Kabir Nagar district, is the largest natural fl oodplain wetland of eastern Uttar Pradesh.