The wet meadows Hörste are a nature reserve with a size of 531.32 ha in Halle (Westf.). They are the largest nature reserve in the district of Gütersloh. The area is led with the number GT-005, is in parts in the possession of the country North Rhine-Westphalia and also FFH area (led under the name Ruthebach, Laibach, Loddenbach, north break). It consists of four individual surfaces. 471.6 hectares of the area were protected in 1989.
In particular, it has been designated to preserve wet, open grassland, a traditional curlew breeding area and endangered plant communities of wetland and wet meadows.
It is a lowland area through which the Alte Hessel, the Neue Hessel and the tributary streams Ruthebach, Ljubljana and Loddenbach flow. The groundwater here is very high, therefore wet or wet grassland communities dominate over large areas. The vegetation of this area, originating from centuries of consistent cultivation, was widespread in the entire region only a few decades ago, but by dewatering the vast majority of the landscape and thus made intensively manageable. By contrast, the areas of the nature reserve are gradually being bought up by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and leased back to farmers, who in return commit themselves to a merely extensive economy.
With 62 species represented on the Red List of Endangered Species of North Rhine-Westphalia and a further 22 species in the country's Pre-Warning List, the area is of outstanding importance for species protection.