Francisco Alves Mendes Filho, better known as Chico Mendes, was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and indigenous peoples. He was assassinated by a rancher on 22 December 1988. The Chico Mendes Institute for Conservation of Biodiversity, a body under the jurisdiction of the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, is named in his honor.