Metarica. One of the battalions dispatched towards the Mecula Mountain in search of food had to fight a fierce battle with the Portuguese who were led by Major João Teixeira Pinto. The Portuguese force was comprehensively defeated. Witness to this battle are seen in the form of a few graves on the hill slopes at Mecula, the district capital of Niassa. The Germans defeated a Portuguese force of some 1200 men at Negomano and seized valuable supplies, including 250,000 rounds, six machine guns and medicine. During this battle known as "Battle of Negomano", following the defeat of Portuguese Army by the German Army, 550 soldiers were taken prisoners. Negomano was occupied during the war in 1976 when a mine exploded from the village. Two soldiers were seriously wounded and had to be flown out by helicopter. Ethnicity and culture The Makonde ethnic tribe is the dominant tribal group residing in the Cabo Delgado Province where Negomano is a village. Mekondes’ have a strong and unique culture with an innate talent for wood and ivory carving. Ancestral customs of ritual tattooing and teeth filing are still practiced by them. The historical Namachakole trench (Lilondo suburb) where the tombs of 11 Frelimo fighters killed in combat at Negomano are buried is a tourist attraction in Mueda district. The other attraction is of wild life safaris originating from Negomano. Ecology and community development Following the end of civil war in 1992 in Mozambique, community conservation initiatives were launched involving local communities, NGOs, and private sector. One such initiative instituted by the Government of Mozambique was specific to the Niassa Reserve titled the “Niassa Reserve Community-Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM),” which covered three villages within the reserve namely, Negomano, Mussoma and Naulala. Investment funds and expertise required over the period of project implementation were provided under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in 2001 between the Sociedade para Gestão e Desenvolvimento da Reserva do Niassa (SGDRN) and WWF Southern Africa Regional Office (SARPO). The Norwegian Agency for Development and Cooperation (NORAD) funded the project, which was implemented by WWF Norway and the WWF SARPO, through WWF Mozambique in association with SGDRN, over the period from 2001 to 2005. This project has been reportedly assessed as successful in achieving the framework of defined objectives. The achievements reported are: Establishing community-based organizations; addressing the animal human conflicts issues through training and evolving suitable techniques for reducing