A three-day international bird-watching festival started on Dec 7 in Yueyang in Central China's Hunan province.

The Yueyang Daily reported that the 7th China Dongting Lake Yueyang International Bird Watching Festival has attracted more than 30 officials, experts and representatives from international organizations, international key wetlands and Chinese wetland protection areas.

The festival, first held in 2002, is co-sponsored by the State Forestry Administration and the Hunan provincial government.

During the festival, some 30 bird-watching teams from China and overseas will take part in a bird-watching contest at East Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve.

This year is the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands.