Experts gathered in this metropolis Thursday to discuss ways of educating urban youth about the importance of taking care of wild animals.

Toddlers from the city's kindergartens have become frequent visitors to the city's zoo, where they learn about the animals.

"It is an important part of our education because children, as the masters of the future, are more curious and easier to accept the positive concept of protecting wildlife," said Zhang Endi, vice-head of Pudong New Area and former director of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) China Program.

"They will also greatly influence their parents and other relations," he added.

Zhang addressed the significance of this concept at the first Forum on Science Popularization and Wildlife Education Among Shanghai Youngsters held here yesterday

Along with a number of renowned animal experts, over 120 headmasters of local primary and middle schools took part.

Over the past decade, about 1 million schoolchildren have benefited from various forms of education about biological diversity.

Since 2000, 67 primary and middles schools in the city have teamed up with WCS and Shanghai Wild Life Conversation Society (SWCS), to help protect wildlife and their habitats.

All 67 headmasters present at the forum pledged to make environmental awareness a constant feature of their schools' curricular and extracurricular activities.

SWCS Director Zhou Guoqi said the city's rapid urbanization had resulted in the destruction of a great deal of wildlife.

"We are working to compensate for this," added Zhou.

As Shanghai is endeavoring to build itself into a biological city and has invested large amounts in growing vegetation and woods, helping create a more favorable environment for wildlife.

"However, protecting wildlife is never easy, requiring the whole community to be self-disciplined and show their concern," Zhou said.