ISSN (e): 2250 – 3005 || Volume, 08 || Issue, 5|| May – 2018 || International Journal of Computational Engineering Research (IJCER) www.ijceronline.com Open Access Journal Page 42 IdentificaionofVegetation Change ofMuthurajawelaWetland inSri Lanka from 1992 to 2015 by Using GIS-Remote Sensing Phan Truong Khanh 1 , S.M.C.U.P. Subasinghe 2 (1) Department of Environmental Management, University of An Giang, Vietnam. (2) Department of Forestry and Environmental Science, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. Corresponding Author: Phan Truong Khanh --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date of Submission: 28-04-2018 Date of acceptance: 14-05-2018 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I INTRODUCTION Muthurajawela wetland is the largest saline coastal peat bog in Sri Lanka, which covers an area of 6,232 ha in total extent. About 1,777 ha of the northern section of Muthurajawela wetland was declared a wetland sanctuary [5]. This Muthurajawela wetland contains a high diversity of both flora and fauna, including several endemic and nationally threatened species, and also provides an important area for migratory birds. Because of the presence of these natural habitats and species, Muthurajwela wetland is a popular recreational destination, primarily attracting educational or school trips and day visitors from nearby Colombo [2]. Although more than 300,000 people live in the Muthurajawela wetland-Negombo area, just under 5,000 people live in and around the marsh itself, half of whom are squatters and about three quarters who live on unauthorized landholdings. About 80% of industries in the country are concentrated in Colombo and Gampaha Districts [12]. Further, the location of the Muthurajawela wetland in a rapidly developing urban area which makes it an extremely vulnerable ecosystem [4]. Due to the threats for Muthurajawela wetland ecosystems described, it is essential to make methodological or institutional proposals for policies to protect these valuable wetlands and to make recommendations for sustainable forest land use for environmental values in the situation of the global climate change. In order for that the current status as well as past changes must be known which provides a valuable data base on the contribution of forest ecosystems in reducing greenhouse gases. Therefore, the investigation and monitoring of structural change and the area change of forest vegetation has become a priority requirement ABSTRACT Muthurajawela wetland is a coastal wetland system of high biodiversity and ecological significance. At present, this Muthurajawela wetland is being rapidly degraded by inadequately planned development activities and other detrimental activities related to growing human population pressure. As over a time, there will be change in vegetation area. Therefore, an effective method should be used to re-evaluate the change in area. Remote sensing technology is the most effective method and is used in this study. Three Landsat (TM) satellite images (1992, 2001 and 2015) were taken for comparison. The results showed that Multi-temporal Landsat images with the average resolution have the ability to assess the vegetation coverage changes with guaranteed results as, we have established a six-vegetation cover layer classification map with an overall accuracy of 84.66% and a kappa coefficient of 0.81. The total natural land area of Muthurajawela wetland was 6,232 ha in 2015. Of which, 492.95 ha was marsh, 232.94 ha was grass, 281.62 ha was water and 5,225.27 ha was of forest land; The area of mangroves forest in 1992 increased by 317.66 ha compared to in 2001 and decreased by 300.42 ha in 2001 compared with in 2015, increasing only 17.24ha in 1992 compared with in 2015. KEYWORDS:Landsat, Remote sensing,Muthurajawela wetland, Sri Lanka.