Dominant barriers and the solutions to the social application of environmental DNA

The environmental DNA (eDNA) method for biological monitoring has become increasingly popular in the last decade. Thus far, eDNA detection and quantification have been used for various taxa in various ecosystems. The eDNA method can survey the community with less cost and habitat disturbance with a broad spatial scale. The road map for halting the trend of nature's decline and becoming “nature positive” by 2030 is yet to be clarified. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop indicators to assist in understanding the impacts of commercial activities and public development on the environment, and eDNA from broad community surveys can significantly contribute to the development of these indicators. For eDNA survey applications, numerous considerations have been considered regarding potential limitations to these social applications. Here, we summarize the dominant barriers to the social application of eDNA surveys. In particular, we discuss four dominant barriers: (1) technical problems of practice, (2) cost and budget for eDNA survey, (3) human resources, and (4) social acceptance and reasoning toward implementing a “nature positive” society. To address these barriers, we have provided potential solutions from various perspectives, including technical and social aspects.