Science & The City: Nature Conservation Festival Set to Open

Credit: Ti Gong

Caption: Young creators and their families in Yangpu District make art using fallen foliage and naturally extracted fruit-and-vegetable dyes to explore autumn's natural beauty.

The 12th Shanghai International Nature Conservation Festival will open on Saturday, featuring more than 1,000 popular science activities across the city to advance ecological protection, Yangtze River restoration and urban development.

On Saturday, an international forum will bring together about 20 renowned scholars from six countries to share cutting-edge solutions for tech-led green urban transition. Forum topics focus on technological empowerment for green transition, megacity ecological development, wetland restoration, and biodiversity conservation. The international platform facilitates exchange of global experiences.

Spanning research institutes, universities, nature reserves, urban parks, community venues and cultural landmarks, the festival delivers diversified experiences including exhibitions, study tours, nature journaling, ecological observation, film screening, and science workshops.

Nearly 40 municipal environmental education bases and over 90 public environmental facilities will open to the public for ecological learning. Ecological art exhibitions and sustainable market activities will be launched to encourage low-carbon public behavior.

Over the weekend, Shanghai Expo Culture Park in the Pudong New Area will host ecological practice days, launching themed bazaars, eco-themed citywalks and wildlife protection exhibitions.

The Shanghai Science and Technology Museum will run marine science outreach activities through November, including lectures on biodiversity in the Yangtze River Estuary, field visits focused on Chinese sturgeon conservation, and short science videos to raise public awareness of marine ecosystems and conservation.

Ecological documentaries and award-winning rare species series will be screened at cinemas, community centers and schools, taking audiences on a magical nature exploration journey.

The Shanghai Natural History Museum will continue six long-term citizen science projects covering fish surveys, bat monitoring, insect and butterfly observation and wetland biodiversity tracking, accumulating public scientific records. Starting Saturday, a freshwater fish diversity exhibition will run at the museum.