Page | 1 Defining Natural Points of Interest Charlie Hewitt *1 , Andrea Ballatore †2 , Stefano Cavazzi ‡3 , Stefano De Sabbata §1 , and Nicholas Tate **1 1 School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester 2 Department of Geography, Birkbeck, University of London 3 Ordnance Survey March 30 th , 2021 Summary This paper contributes to the working definition of natural points of interest (NPOI). We combine a theory-driven approach exploring existing definitions of points of interest and natural features and a data-driven approach in which we systematically assess datapoints from three separate data sources, proposing a set of criteria for the classification of natural points of interest. KEYWORDS: Points of Interest, Natural Points of Interest, Natural Features Introduction Points of Interest (POI) are specific locations that an individual might find interesting or useful (Chang et al, 2018). POI are a well-known notion, used in multiple contexts, for example, in studies about urban change and urban parcels (Liu & Long, 2016; Zhang & Pfoser, 2019). However, the literature defining natural points of interest (NPOI) is limited. To inform this paper’s working definition of NPOI, we take a theory-driven approach to exploring natural features’ definition in tourism and conservation management contexts. An exploratory approach is used to test our working definition and to identify potential NPOI data sources. The identification of NPOI is part of a wider effort by the Ordnance Survey to characterise footpaths, assessing whether the locations of natural features could help predict potential locations of new footpaths. For this study, exploring the definition of a NPOI is essential. During the first 2020 UK Coronavirus lockdown, the percentage of people going outside for exercise increased from 59% to 71% (NatureScot, 2020). This increase in outdoors activity creates new spatial patterns for engagement with nature, prompting an additional justification for defining NPOI. Related Work To the best of our knowledge, no explicit definition of NPOI has been formulated. The role of the spatial attributes of natural features in testing hypotheses is acknowledged, with focus on nature-based tourism and conservation management contexts (Boyd & Butler, 2012; Zhang & Chow, 2015). To define an object requires examination of its constituent elements – Deng and Bauer define nature-based tourism as the “use of natural resources … including scenery, topology, waterways, vegetation, wildlife, and cultural heritage” (Deng & Bauer, 2002, p.423). Studies attempt to assign value to these constituent * ch510@leicester.ac.uk † a.ballatore@bbk.ac.uk ‡ stefano.cavazzi@os.uk § s.desabbata@leicester.ac.uk ** njt9@leicester.ac.uk