Lake Kivu is one of the African Great Lakes lying in the Albertine Rift. It provides livelihoods to 5.7 million people living in the two riparian countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda. Lake Kivu is currently experiencing numerous stressors, including fish habitat destruction, pollution, invasive species, weak governance and law enforcement as well as conflict between riparian countries. One of the biggest challenges on Lake Kivu is the limitation of coordinated and consistent research on the lake. Scientific attention to large lakes is often not seen as a high enough priority by the riparian countries, despite the lake sustaining millions of people’s livelihoods, and contributes to the GDP of both countries. Although we have a fair understanding of the basic geology, physics, chemistry, and biology of the lake, there is a need for stronger long-term monitoring and research frameworks to gain more comprehensive understanding of the changes resulting from human uses and global warming. These would be needed to develop good policies and management decisions for sustainable and long-term health and use of the lake’s resources. This manuscript presents an opinion of experts on what is known about the current lake’s current status and its resources as well as about what should be done. It highlights key threats, issues and gaps that needs to be urgently addressed, and provides specific and strategic ways forward for long-term monitoring and management, essential to achieving a healthy Lake Kivu, able to sustain its dependents.

基伍湖是位于艾伯丁裂谷的非洲五大湖之一。它为生活在刚果民主共和国和卢旺达共和国两个沿岸国家的 570 万人提供生计。基伍湖目前正面临诸多压力，包括鱼类栖息地破坏、污染、物种入侵、治理和执法薄弱以及沿岸国家之间的冲突。基伍湖面临的最大挑战之一是对该湖进行协调一致的研究的限制。尽管湖泊维持着数百万人的生计，并对两国的国内生产总值做出了贡献，但沿岸国家对大型湖泊的科学关注往往没有被视为足够高的优先事项。尽管我们对湖泊的基础地质、物理、化学和生物学有了一定的了解，但仍需要更强有力的长期监测和研究框架，以更全面地了解人类利用和全球变暖造成的变化。需要这些来制定良好的政策和管理决策，以实现湖泊资源的可持续和长期健康和利用。本手稿提出了专家对当前湖泊现状及其资源的了解以及应该采取的措施的意见。它强调了需要紧急解决的主要威胁、问题和差距，并为长期监测和管理提供了具体的战略方法，这对于实现基伍湖的健康、能够养活其依赖者至关重要。