The routine generation of species distribution data at scale remains a challenge. We used aquatic environmental DNA metabarcoding to sample vertebrate species across the 30,000 km 2 Gaoligongshan region along the China–Myanmar border. In just 56 calendar days (33 researcher‐field‐days + 69 researcher‐lab‐days), we detected 389 vertebrate species, of which 35 are Red‐Listed. We introduce the ‘eDNA‐aware’ OccPlus occupancy model...