The Ad Hoc Expert Group on Consideration with a View to Recommending the Parameters of a Mandate for Developing a Legal Framework on All Types of Forests (AHEG PARAM) begins its meeting today at UN headquarters in New York. The Expert Group will: assess existing regional and international binding and non-binding instruments and processes relevant to forests; consider reports prepared by countries, the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) members and the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) Secretariat and outcomes of UNFF sessions; consider other outcomes of the international arrangement on forests; review the relevant experiences of existing forest-related and other relevant organizations and agreements, focusing on complementarities, gaps and duplications; and provide UNFF with a balanced range of options. The AHEG PARAM is to adopt a report for submission to the fifth session of UNFF (UNFF-5) specifying major outcomes of the group’s work, including proposals and recommendations for further consideration by UNFF.