Wastes the reward (7)
I believe the answer is:
deserts
I believe this clue is a double definition.
'wastes' is the first definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the reward' is the second definition.
(thesaurus)
(Other definitions for deserts that I've seen before include "Wastes" , "Arid areas" , "Barren tracts" , "Abandons - just reward" , "Kalahari and Gobi" .)