The Else is a left tributary of the river Werre in the northeast of North Rhine-Westphalia and in southern Lower Saxony.

The Else and Werre valleys, which were formed during the ice age, are bordered in the south by the Teutoburg Forest and in the north by the ridge of the Wiehen Hills.

After the bifurcation in Melle the river flows east into North Rhine-Westphalia, passing the state border at river kilometre 19.2 and crossing Rödinghausen and Bünde, before discharging, after a distance of approximately 35 km, into the Werre near the eastern edge of Kirchlengern.

The area lies north of the Else and south of the railway line from Löhne to Osnabrück along a 3.5 km long section of the river.

The area is protected, because it is a near-natural floodplain in the middle of the intensively farmed Ravensberg Land.

In addition the Else-Werre cycle way on the river continues to lead along and of the delta into the Werre up to the Weser.