Virunga National Park (Lake Edward sector), North Kivu

Virunga National Park is the DRC's oldest national park (est. 1925), a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1979) managed by the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN), covering ~7,800 km2 in North Kivu. Its central sector encompasses the western and southern shores of Lake Edward and includes about 144,548 ha of the lake itself. Fishing on Lake Edward is heavily restricted: it is legally limited to a small number of designated landing/fishing settlements (Kyavinyonge, Vitshumbi, Nyakakoma) under ICCN/park management, and fishing with prohibited techniques or in bays and spawning grounds is unlawful. As a national park under Loi n 14/003 of 2014 on nature conservation and a 'reserve' in the sense of Art. 62 of the 1937 fishing decree, recreational/underwater fishing (spearfishing) would be subject to ICCN protected-area rules. Center point given for the DRC portion of Lake Edward.