Skydiver Releases 100 Million Seeds From Hot Air Balloon Onto Amazon’s Deforested Area. Here’s What Happened

As a child, Luigi Cani (@luigicani) dreamed of flying. Growing up, he turned his dreams into reality, performing feats so daring that remind people of Iron Man and of the old man flying in Disney’s “Up House”. With more than 14,000 jumps, over 150 film projects, and 11 world records, the 54-year-old now delivers motivational speeches around the globe, inspiring people with the message, “You Can Fly.”

For most of his life, he jumped for thrill and emotion, but it was in 2022 that he ventured on one of the most important projects of his life, the “100 Million Seeds Amazon Project.” Early in 2022, he donned a crisp white skydiving suit and jumped from a plane with a giant box containing millions of seeds. He was on a mission to revive the patches of Amazon rainforest left barren by human activities. He succeeded. 

Cani, a renowned parachutist, skydiver, and stunt maker spent five years intensely planning the nitty-gritty and details of this Amazon project.  “It was the only jump in my life that I held my breath the entire time,” the Brazilian aerial athlete told Red Bull, “My heart was beating really fast. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack.” He boarded a plane that flew to the deforested portion of the Amazon rainforest and then jumped with over 3 tonnes of equipment. He scattered 100 million seeds mid-air using a giant biodegradable seedbox and let the wild winds deposit these seeds into the infertile ground. 

Lately, the Amazon, the “lungs of the planet,” has been under the threat of massive deforestation. From cattle ranchers who brutally chop down its trees for cattle grazing to those cultivating soybean farms; from miners digging its fertile soils for gold and iron to urban developers lopping down its lush greenery to create infrastructure, the forest was losing its green charm. The plant's green jewel became ravaged by deforestation-related wildfires, which led to increased greenhouse gas emissions and habitat loss for millions of animals. At this crucial time, Cani’s laborious initiative acted as a potent ointment for the thinning forest.

According to recent reports, the deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon was reduced to half in 2023 and dropped by 30.6%in 2024. But for Cani and his team, the process of accomplishing this mission didn’t come without its own set of challenges and obstacles. Two months before the date of the jump, the crew collected 100 million seeds from 27 native trees from nearby rainforests. Just a few days before the final drop, three test boxes failed to work. “We were running out of time,” Cani told Red Bull. “We stayed up all night trying to find a way to seal a leak in the box. I struggled to hold the box. I nearly broke my wrist and fingers. I managed to stabilize myself at about 6,000 feet and the seeds were released precisely where we wanted them to be. It was complete ecstasy," he added.

Once the seeds were released into the thickets of Amazon, the germination rate of 95% ensured that the resulting trees would sprout up to 50 meters tall. After this immensely meaningful project, Cani is on another mission- the mission to inspire people to jump out of their comfort zones. “After a lot of time in the free fall, I realized that everyone can fly in their own field. Now, I want to help other people learn to fly and step out of their comfort zones. It’s a challenge, because most people resist change, whether individual or global. However, we need huge changes to make the world better than it is today. The possibility for growth is incredible, but more people need to be willing to learn and work together,” he told Bored Panda.

You can follow Luigi Cani (@luigicani) on Instagram to catch up on his latest adventures.