A local conservation NGO announced on Monday afternoon that they would give a $1,000 reward for tip-offs that lead to illegal logging crackdowns in three provinces: Kampong Speu, Pursat and Koh Kong.

Chea Hean, director of the Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organization, said the reward money would come from a banana plantation he owns. “Please report the crime to me if you see it,” he urged, maintaining that his NGO would guarantee the informant’s safety and provide legal assistance if necessary.

Keat Rangsey, director of Kampong Speu’s department of environment, welcomed the initiative and added that his rangers’ joint operations with the NGO had led to a fall in forest crime.

Hean claimed that his NGO had difficulty combating illegal timber trading as the mother of a military police commander in Oral district was allegedly an influential timber trader in the area.

Oral district military police commander Som Putdara acknowledged that one of his officials, whom he refused to identify, was involved in forest crime, but had signed a contract promising to stop his activities.