Posts Tagged Mangroves

Muthurajawela Marsh, which evocatively translates as ‘Supreme Field of Pearls’, is a little-known gem of a wetland at the southern end of Negombo’s lagoon. The area had been a rich rice-growing basin before the Portuguese constructed a canal that ruined the fields with sea water. Over the centuries, Mother Nature turned Muthurajawela into Sri Lanka’s biggest saline wetland, home to purple herons, cormorants and kingfishers. However, the marsh is under pressure from encroaching industrial development.