The Ministry of Science and Technology proposes, as a way to improve governmental actions concerning Amazonia, the execution of the following initiatives:

• Annual assessment of the whole area of the Legal Amazonia (229 Landsat images);
  
• Monitoring, with greater level of detail and frequency, of critical areas in the Legal Amazonia detected by the several Government agencies operating in the region;
  
• Continuous monitoring of up to 15% of the Legal Amazonia area — about 750,000 km², seen in 38 images — throughout the 6 months a year that make up the critical period.

The monitoring activities indicated above are estimated to cost R$ 4 million*, during the 1996 and 1997 fiscal years.

Besides that, the Brazilian Space Program is working on the construction and launching of satellites that will increase coverage frequency of the region, in addition to guaranteeing data supply, autonomy and means for monitoring actions in view of the growing vulnerability of the Landsat satellite, the useful life of which is about to end.

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* US$ 1.00 = R$ 1.055 as March, 1997