| Prescribed fires are a good way to deal with wildfires and ecological imbalance |
Assurant Solutions and Assurant Specialty Property have long been supporters of organizations and programs that promote the preservation of our environment.
Assurant Solutions and Assurant Specialty Property have joined forces with The Nature Conservancy to provide land managers with a new tool to help them determine when and how to use prescribed fire to maintain healthy habitats and ecosystems. 'Controlled burns' help keep non-native, invasive species in check and natural areas from becoming overgrown.
In partnership with the Nature Conservancy, Assurant Solutions and Assurant Specialty Property sponsored the creation of an eight-page booklet called 'Controlled Burning: Getting it Done' to assist various agencies and organizations in building a network of fire teams throughout the United States and learn more about using prescribed fires as a tool for effective land management.
Prescribed fires help in creating balance in the ecosystem and preventing wildfires |
"We are pleased that Assurant Solutions and Assurant Specialty Property are supporting our efforts to promote controlled fires as an instrument to balance sensitive lands," said Nature Conservancy Florida Fire Manager Zach Prusak. "When properly managed, fire is a critical tool for the maintenance of ecosystems. The use of controlled burns has a direct, proven benefit to society by helping remove large amounts of burnable fuel that contributes to the intensity and severity of wildfires. Continued support from companies, such as Assurant, is critical to our mission."
In addition to the company's support of the educational booklet, in 2009 Assurant, partnered with The Nature Conservancy, to sponsor an ecologically restorative fire burn at the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve in southwest Riverside County, Calif. Assurant also supported a multi-agency training session designed to increase understanding of basic wilderness firefighting safety and wildfire behavior. In addition to working with and promoting the fire team concept, the Conservancy works to promote the formation of fire councils nationwide. Fire councils bring together groups and agencies to promote the safe use of fire as a tool while providing education to the public about the risks of wildfires and actionable strategies that help reduce those risks.
"Assurant Solutions and Assurant Specialty Property have long been supporters of organizations and programs that promote the preservation of our environment," said Ana Rojas-Filliben, senior vice president, marketing and communications, Assurant Solutions and Specialty Property. "Corporate social responsibility is a hallmark of our business and we continually look for ways to support the communities where we live and work. We are proud of our partnership with The Nature Conservancy and happy to be a part of the effort to further communicate and educate the benefits of controlled burns."
As part of Assurant's commitment to sustainability the company requires that its paper suppliers have made a commitment to responsible forestry practices and avoid paper from sources that are known to log unsustainably or from illegally managed forests. Assurant also supports programs that promote environmental awareness and literacy among school-age children, such as the Plant a Thousand Gardens Collaborative Nutrition Initiative (CNI) at Florida City Elementary School in South Florida, and Earth Day educational programs in local communities across the country.