## 4 Discussion
Based on the accuracy assessment, the 4 m PS imagery performs better at capturing the intricate detail of the coral reef extent. Contrastingly, in the Bahamian Bank, much of the reef areas along the edges of the shelf and sloping deeper areas (20-30 m depth); additionally, the patch reefs within the interior of the shallow banks in The Bahamas are missing in the global reef datasets. The finer resolution of the PS imagery and classification RuleSet lends itself well to discriminating the smaller patch and narrow fringing reefs that are largely missed at the 30 m resolution. For a visual comparison, Figure 17 shows the coral reef extent using the current UNEP-WCMC Global Distribution of Coral Reefs (Version 4.1) (left side) and the PS image-derived coral reef maps (right side) for areas in Cuba, The Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. A primary application of these maps will be to inform regional habitat protection gaps and to ensure benthic habitat classes are adequately represented across the current and expanding Marine Protected Area (MPA) and Marine Managed Area (MMA) networks. These regional maps indicate that 5% of the Insular Caribbean's shallow marine area is composed of coral reef, of which 20% of that area is within some form of marine protected or managed area boundary. In terms of seagrass beds, this habitat covers approximately 43% of the shallow marine area and has 13% inclusion within the current marine protected or managed area. Hardbottom covers 15% of the area mapped, with 22% protection. In terms of the Caribbean's marine ecoregions [69]--Bahamian (The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands), the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico), and the Eastern Caribbean (Virgin Islands through Grenada)--the Eastern Caribbean ecoregion has the highest levels of protection or management, with 41% of the shallow area protected, followed by the Greater Antilles ecoregion at 23% and the Bahamian ecoregion at 9%. More specifically, the Eastern Caribbean, Greater Antilles, and Bahamian ecoregions have protected 60%, 29%, and 9% of coral, 67%, 21%, and 8% of seagrass, and 41%, 29%, and 12% of hardbottom, respectively. Work to expand marine protection and management is currently underway in many jurisdictions identified at low percentages. Designation of new proposed areas as described in the recent Bahamas Protected Plan [70] would advance The Bahamas to achieve protection of 24% coral, 19% seagrass, and 39% hardbottom habitats (current values are 10%, 8%, and 13%). The Bahamian marine ecoregion would reach protection of 30% coral, 21% seagrass, and 42% hardbottom. Within the Eastern Caribbean, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, and Sint Maarten have low percentages of marine protected and managed areas. Barbados is currently engaged in a marine spatial planning (MSP) process that will identify and declare new MPAs across 30% of their territorial sea and EEZ. In 2015, Montserrat launched a Blue Halo Initiative as a partnership to develop and implement solutions for sustainable ocean management through marine spatial planning, fisheries management, and community stewardship [71]. Grenada has drafted management plans for all declared marine managed areas (MMAs) and is in the process of designating new MMAs. Other jurisdictions that would benefit from increased protection include British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos. Recent conservation successes across the Caribbean include the Cayman Islands that finalized an expanded MPA network in March 2021 that includes a no-take regulation for 50% of the marine shelf. In 2010, Saint Kitts and Nevis completed an MSP, which was the basis for the creation of a 2-mile radius Saint Kitts and Nevis Marine Management Area (SKNMMA) that was declared in 2016, being the first Caribbean country to design a national MSP [61,72]. The management plan for SKNMMA has been drafted and the country is currently pilot testing management actions in a few zones.