The presidents of France and Brazil meet and announce a $1.1 billion investment plan for the Amazon

SAO PAULO (AP) — The Brazilian and the French presidents on Tuesday announced a plan to invest 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) in the Amazon, including parts of the rainforest in neighboring French Guiana.

The two countries' governments said in a joint statement the money will be spread over the next four years to protect the rainforest. It will be a collaboration of state-run Brazilian banks and France's investment agency. Private resources will also be welcomed, Brazil and France said.

French President Emmanuel Macron and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are meeting this week to revive the relationship between the countries after years of frictions with former President Jair Bolsonaro, deepen cooperation to protect the rainforest and boost trade.

Macron started his three-day visit to Brazil in the Amazon city of Belem, where he met his long-time ally Lula. The French president then took a boat to the Combu island to meet with Indigenous leaders.

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Chief Raoni Metuktire poses for photos after Macron presented Chief Raoni with the French distinction, the Legion of Honor, during a ceremony on Combu Island, near Belem, Para state, Brazil, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Both Macron and Lula saw a protest by Greenpeace Brazil with banners that read “No oil in the Amazon.” Brazil’s government has contemplated allowing the tapping of oil in a region close to the Para state, where Belem lies.

Lula said during a speech that Macron's visit is part of a global effort to beef up rainforest protections.

“We want to convince those who have already deforested that they need to contribute in an important way to countries that still have their forests to keep them standing,” Lula said in a speech next to the French president.

Macron's office prior said to the trip that a potential European trade deal with the South American bloc Mercosur won’t be on the agenda. The French president is an opponent of such an agreement as long as South American producers don’t respect the same environment and health standards as Europeans, after farmers raised concerns during protests across France and Europe.

The French president decorated Indigenous leader Raoni Metuktire with the prestigious Legion of Honor medal for efforts at conserving the rainforest.

French President Emmanuel Macron, from left, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chief Raoni Metuktire, pose for photos on Combu Island, near Belem, Para state, Brazil, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

“You were in Europe and I promised to come here to your forest and be with your people in this forest that is coveted,” Macron told the Indigenous leader, according to French radio RFI. “President Lula and I have a common cause for one of our friends in this land that belongs to you.”

Lula and Macron will seek to “set a common course” to fight both climate change and poverty, Macron’s office said, as Brazil is to host the summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in Rio de Janeiro in November and UN climate talks in Belem next year.

On Wednesday, Macron and Lula will launch a diesel-powered submarine built in Brazil with French technology at the Itaguai shipyard outside Rio de Janeiro. The French president will then head to metropolis Sao Paulo to meet with Brazilian investors. On Thursday, the French president will head to Brasilia to again meet with Lula.

French President Emmanuel Macron smiles while attending a ceremony on Combu Island, near Belem, Para state, Brazil, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Macron is on a three-day official visit to Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, speaks as Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva takes photos, during a ceremony on the Combu Island, near Belem, Para state, Brazil, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Davi Kopenawa, Yanomami leader, from left to right, French President Emmanuel Macron, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chief Raoni Metuktire and Chief Watatakalu Yawalapiti, leader of the Xingu women's movement, raise their arms in unison as they pose for a photo on Combu Island, near Belem, Para state, Brazil, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

French President Emmanuel Macron, from left, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chief Raoni Metuktire, pose for photos on Combu Island, near Belem, Para state, Brazil, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

French President Emmanuel Macron, second left, flies a drone, accompanied by Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, right center, first lady Rosangela da Silva, and Gov. Helder Barbalho, left, on Combu Island, near Belem, Para state, Brazil, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. Macron is on a three-day official visit to Brazil. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Galena, a 6-year-old house cat from Utah, likes hiding and playing with cardboard.

Earlier this month, the combination of the two made for a stressful trip in an Amazon package, a feverish search, a California rescue and a tearful reunion.

Her family is still waiting to “reintroduce cardboard to her again," owner Carrie Clark said Tuesday, because they don't want to stress her out.

Clark got Galena as a kitten after her aunt rescued a pregnant feral cat. The American short hair with calico and Siamese coloring has been a constant companion and source of emotional support.

“I’ve been through a bunch of health things and she and I have gone through all of that together. And she’s she just has this extra great part about her personality that’s very loving. And she can tell when you don’t feel well,” Clark said. “And she's just really, really special to me.”

So when Galena disappeared on April 10, Clark was beside herself.

They searched the neighborhood, put up flyers and posted notices on Facebook lost pet pages in Lehi, Utah.

“Not knowing what had happened to her was pretty excruciating," Clark said, “I cried my eyes out for seven days trying to figure out what had happened.” Clark also ran through all the worst-case scenarios, wondering if the cat could have gotten out of the house and been nabbed by a predator or run over by a vehicle.

Clark said she received a “text that changed my life” on April 17, saying that Galena's microchip had been scanned, so Clark knew she had been found somewhere. Soon after, she got a call saying her cat was near Riverside, California, after being found in a box along with steel-toed boots that had been returned to an Amazon warehouse.

Clark's husband had ordered several pairs of boots, kept one and returned the rest in a large box on April 10.

“We realized that that our sweet kitty must have jumped into that box without us knowing,” she said.

Amazon employees knew just who to call when they found the feline — co-worker Brandy Hunter, who rescues cats, Clark said.

Hunter took the cat home and to the vet the next day, where the microchip was scanned.

Clark spoke with Hunter who “calmed me down and told me that my kitty was OK," despite having spent six days in a cardboard box without food or water.

“I wanted desperately to be with her,” Clark said. She and her husband flew to California the next day, reunited with Galena at the veterinarian's office and rented a car to drive home.

“We did what we needed to do because I just adore her,” Clark said.

It was an intensely emotional week.

“I went from hysterically laughing that she was stuck like that — we mailed our cat — you know ... just the humor part of that, to hysterically crying all within like five seconds," Clark said.

The family was lucky to get Galena back, Clark said, in part because the weather was not harsh during the time the cat was missing, the box was torn at a seam, allowing her to get more air, and because Hunter who took her to a vet and had her scanned for a microchip.

Since word got out, Clark has been sharing her cat's story, with advice to microchip your pets and to double-check your Amazon boxes before returning them.

Galena is a quiet cat, Clark said.

“She didn’t meow," Clark said. "We would have loved for her to meow so we knew that she was,” in the box.

In this photo provided by Carrie Clark of Lehi, Utah, Carrie poses with Galena, a 6-year-old house cat. Clark says Galena went missing after jumping into a box being returned to Amazon without its owners noticing. (Carrie Clark via AP Photo)

In this photo provided by Carrie Clark of Lehi, Utah, Carrie poses with Galena, a 6-year-old house cat. Clark says Galena went missing after jumping into a box being returned to Amazon without its owners noticing. (Carrie Clark via AP Photo)

In this photo provided by Carrie Clark of Lehi, Utah, Carrie poses with Galena, a 6-year-old house cat. Clark says Galena went missing after jumping into a box being returned to Amazon without its owners noticing. (Carrie Clark via AP Photo)

In this photo provided by Carrie Clark of Lehi, Utah, is Galena, a 6-year-old house cat. Clark says Galena went missing after jumping into a box being returned to Amazon without its owners noticing. (Carrie Clark via AP Photo)

In this photo provided by Carrie Clark of Lehi, Utah, is Galena, a 6-year-old house cat. Clark says Galena went missing after jumping into a box being returned to Amazon without its owners noticing. (Carrie Clark via AP Photo)

In this photo provided by Carrie Clark of Lehi, Utah, is Galena, a 6-year-old house cat. Clark says Galena went missing after jumping into a box being returned to Amazon without its owners noticing. (Carrie Clark via AP Photo)