This paper provides advice on the setup and implementation of International Barcode of Life (iBOL) national nodes. Focusing on the national level, the paper synthesises experiences from 20 countries, highlighting strategies for capacity building, methodological standardisation, stakeholder engagement, funding diversification and communication, ultimately providing 10 recommendations to guide the establishment and long-term success of national DNA barcoding nodes.
“Empowering national capacity for a DNA-based approach to species identification and biodiversity monitoring,” by Kaitetzidou, E. et al., with Grabowski, M. as the senior and corresponding author, was published in Metabarcoding & Metagenomics on 22 May 2026.
The work was supported by the Horizon Europe Framework Programme through the Biodiversity Genomics Europe (BGE) project.
Graphic by Suzanne Bateson, CC BY-SA.