The Shanghai International Nature Conservation Festival, which launches on Saturday, will feature a variety of events.

These include lectures, films, a photo exhibition and a shutterbug contest, water environment protection activity and a walking tour to raise public awareness of nature and environmental protection.

About 20 experts and scholars from countries such as China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Thailand will share their experiences in water conservation, animal and plant research, urban wetland construction and ecological planning, and museum education at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum on Saturday.

They will also participate in a conference in Chongming District on Sunday to discuss building Chongming into a world-class ecological island.

An activity encouraging youngsters to explore nature by making notes after observing natural phenomena and species will be held during the festival. Schools will organize events for youngsters to learn different species of wildlife and plants.

On Saturday, about 200 residents will walk into the city's greenbelt, parks as well as the domestic garbage science popularization pavilion.

Authorities have been constructing a 98 kilometers-long greenbelt near the Middle Ring Road, with eight districts involved.

These residents will experience the ecological effects of the greenway during the trip.

Throughout the festival, a number of museums and botanic parks including Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, Shanghai Natural History Museum, and Shanghai Chenshan Botanic Garden, will screen nature-themed documentaries about the globe, oceans and wildlife.

A water environment protection event will be held at Suzhou Creek Mengqingyuan Environmental Protection Park on October 27 with more than 100 photos and painting works created by primary and middle school students in the city that showcase Shanghai's beautiful river courses.

The festival, which is in its third year, will run until October 27.