A man takes of his shirt to reveal a patchwork of horrific scars. "They began to strike me with machetes ... my back was wounded with 17 gashes and this hand was chopped off." So severe were journalist Abi Kusno's injuries that he was almost taken to the morgue. His crime? To write an article exposing the illegal logging trade in Indonesia and inform the forestry department about a shipment of contraband timber. However, the attack has only strengthened his resolve to continue exposing the problem: "I still am determined to fight against illegal logging."

Corruption in Indonesia is widespread and powerful timber barons like Abdul Rasyid run their towns like fiefdoms. "It's very easy to pay off the police, to pay off people within the forestry departments, to pay off politicians," claims environmental worker Faith Doherty. When she and a colleague tried to confront Abdul Rasyid his thugs kidnapped them. Her colleague, Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto, was seriously assaulted before they were deported out of the region. No one has been charged with their kidnapping or the attempted murder of Abi Kusno.

70% of all logging in Indonesia is illegal, amounting to 50 million cubic metres of timber ever year. Indonesia contains 10% of the world's remaining tropical forests. It is home to many endangered animals, and its rich biodiversity is threatened by the illegal logging. Professor Birute Galdikas runs a sanctuary for displaced orangutans; "The net effect of this massive illegal logging in national parks and other protected areas is there is absolutely no place for wildlife to be safe." The loggers regularly threaten her reserve and her staff have to defend it with their own machetes. When she confronted them, she was kidnapped. The event has clearly left her traumatised: "I prefer not to think about it...it's too difficult and too painful."

It's not just Indonesia who should be concerned. Deforestation of the rainforests has serious repercussions for the rest of the world. Harvard university scientist Dr Mark Leighton states: "We've known for a long time that the so-called El Niño events are critically determined by Indonesia." Unless the logging is halted, it will cause "the warming up of the Pacific...disruption of rainfall, weird droughts and rainfall patterns." These findings are supported by tropical forest ecologists, who have conclusively linked illegal logging with global climate change.

Almost half the world's rainforests have already been destroyed. The forests in the Indonesian province of Kalimantan will disappear within the next eight years unless the illegal trade is stopped. "We see destruction on a massive scare, it breaks my heart," laments Faith Doherty. Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto agrees: "We are trying to find a hope, some light ... but the challenge is huge."

Produced by ABC Australia