A new technique using artificial intelligence to predict where deforestation is most likely to occur could help the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) preserve its shrinking rainforest and cut carbon emissions, researchers have said.

Congo's rainforest, the world's second-largest after the Amazon, is under pressure from farms, mines, logging and infrastructure development, scientists say.

Baby gorillas in the forest in the Congo. Credit:New York Times

Protecting forests is widely seen as one of the cheapest and most effective ways to reduce the emissions driving global warming. The DRC jungle is also home to threatened species such as gorillas.

But conservation efforts in DRC have suffered from a lack of precise data on which areas of the country's vast territory are most at risk of losing their pristine vegetation, said Thomas Maschler, a researcher at the World Resources Institute (WRI).