  A polycentric approach to ecosystem service (ES) governance that combines
individual incentives for interdependent ES providers with collective action is
a promising lever to overcome the decline in ES and generate win-win solutions
in agricultural landscapes. In this study, we explored the effectiveness of
such an approach by focusing on incentives for managed pollination targeting
either beekeepers or farmers who were either in communication with each other
or not. We used a stylized bioeconomic model to simulate (i) the mutual
interdependency through pollination in intensive agricultural landscapes and
(ii) the economic and ecological impacts of introducing two beekeeping
subsidies and one pesticide tax. The findings showed that incentives generated
a spillover effect, affecting not only targeted stakeholders but non-targeted
stakeholders as well as the landscape, and that this effect was amplified by
communication. However, none of the simulated types of polycentric ES
governance proved sustainable overall: subsidies showed excellent economic but
low environmental performance, while the tax led to economic losses but was
beneficial for the landscape. Based on these results, we identified three
conditions for sustainable ES governance based on communication between
stakeholders and incentives: (i) strong mutual interdependency (i.e. few
alternatives exist for stakeholders), (ii) the benefits of communication
outweigh the costs, and (iii) the incentivized ES drivers are not detrimental
to other ES. Further research is needed to systematize which combination of
individual payments and collaboration are sustainable in which conditions.
