Tioman's corals have been affected by a mass bleaching event in 2010 whereby the island lost a significant portion of its live coral cover. That resulted in many corals turning a dull white colour and some even fragmenting into pieces of dead coral skeleton. The 2016 bleaching event only just touched on Tioman's Coral Reefs, and as such, the coral has remained in good and healthy condition. A proposal to build an international airport on Tioman Island which were rejected by authorities in 2018 due to the scale of the environmental impacts it would cause are still very much in the works as an environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the project has been submitted. The new airport would cover 186.4 hectares (460.6 acres) of the island's west coast between the villages of Kampung Paya and Kampung Genting. 76% of the development area would need to be land reclaimed from the sea (142.70 hectares) within Pulau Tioman Marine Park, according to the EIA report. Impacts on the marine environment cited in the EIA report include direct destruction of coral reefs and coastal habitats, underwater construction noise, pollutant runoff, artificial lighting, and plumes of silt and sediment. The development could displace local businesses, extinguish tourism revenue in two of the island's seven villages, and have cascading effects on the island's already limited natural resource. The EIA report suggests carrying out a marine conservation and rehabilitation plan, which involves relocating and propagating corals to four designated sites and two coral farms before any construction begins. While the relocation of corals may appear to be a measure to protect these fragile organisms, it is important to examine the drawbacks and limitations of this approach. Relocating corals from their natural habitats to new sites can have an adverse effect on their survival and the ecosystems they support. Transplanted corals often struggle to adapt to new conditions, leading to a high mortality rate. The disturbance caused by relocation can disrupt the balance of the ecosystem and result in long-term ecological consequences. The EIA report states that 54% of 300 island residents surveyed about the development viewed the development positively. However, the report concedes that many respondents were residents of Kampung Tekek, a village in the northern, most developed part of the island, far from the development footprint and close to a large resort linked to the project developer. In contrast, representatives surveyed from the affected villages of Kampung Genting and Kampung Paya typically held a negative view of the airport proposal.
Ghost nets are becoming increasingly common around the island, harming local wildlife. ==Tourist attractions==