The Cuvelai Basin of north-central Namibia consists of unique seasonal wetlands made up of shallow pans locally known
as Iishana (Oshana, singular) which form ephemeral network systems. The basin has relatively fertile soils encouraging human
settlements. More than 40% of the country’s population resides in the basin. Early settlers in the basin utilized indigenous knowledge
to develop land use systems that were in harmony with biophysical characteristics of the area. Over the years, there has been a
departure from these indigenous land use systems resulting in land management problems. A desktop study coupled with field
observations was conducted to describe the indigenous land use systems of the Owambo people living in the basin, and to determine
factors behind the departure and consequential impacts of this departure on sustainability of land uses. Possible ways of preventing
erosion of this indigenous knowledge were given attention. The paper recommends that the Owamboindigenous land management
system needs to be embedded within government policies and regulations and should be strictly enforced. There is also a need for
designing strategic basin management plans that are a combination of both scientific and indigenous knowledge.