Establishment of a Sustainable Management Model for Chinese Herbal Garden in an Urban City—Hong Kong
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The manuscript presents abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusions, and bibliography
In this manuscript, the authors establish a management model for Herbal gardens sustainable in an urban City because these herbal significant effect on the prevention and treatment of diseases. The management model of a Chinese Herbal Garden was developing for secondary schools, L'Occitane in The Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi) Tsing Yi campus, and a Land in Sai Kung Wu Lei Tau. The authors show that Sustainable development of Chinese Medicinal Herbs is difficult in a huge population on very scarce land. The authors talk about the difficulty in preservation of the Chinese Medicinal Herbal gardens
The management model of a Chinese Herbal Garden was developing in five major areas: secondary schools, L'Occitane in The Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi) Tsing Yi campus, and a Land in Sai Kung Wu Lei Tau, . The authors put a question: How do we continue the sustainable development of the Chinese Herbal Garden? Through manpower planning or other economic support?
don't understood very well how was established the model? The authors can explain better.
Comments for author File: 
Comments.pdf
Author Response
Reviewer 1
Comment 1:
How do we continue the sustainable development of the Chinese Herbal Garden? Through manpower planning or other economic support? Don't understood very well how was established the model? The authors can explain better.
Response 1:
How do we continue the sustainable development of the Chinese herbal garden? Basically, self-finance and operation are the central ideas for developing our Chinese Herbal Garden. Because the land resource is limited and labor participation, such as high salary employment that is difficult to establish a Chinese herbal garden in an urban city. The management model in item 4 as discussed above with five important elements are possible to overcome these problems. We expect to provide a green environment from a concrete jungle, especially in Hong Kong's urban city.
Reviewer 2 Report
The paper is relevant and well written. Just tiny revision.
#1. Abstract section
Your abstract seems well organized, but I recommend the authors to include briefly the following two points: I. Include the methods used and, II. The results part in the abstract lacks data, not recommended to use text only.
#2. General comment on the Introduction section: There are too few literature review paragraphs in the introduction, and the author needs to expand the introduction.
#3. The Chinese characters in the table shall be deleted, and the Chinese characters in the figure shall have corresponding English explanations.
#4. Discussion
Your discussion section is not sufficient and need more work, like on the policy implication or the conclusion of comparison with other studies.
#5. Conclusions
Focus on your results/findings. And in general, the tables of the paper are too long and there are too many pictures, and the corresponding text explanation and discussion and analysis are too few. It is suggested to strengthen and supplement them.
I have no strong plagiarism checker and you should do that.
Author Response
Reviewer 2
Comment 1:
Your abstract seems well organized, but I recommend the authors to include briefly the following two points: I. Include the methods used and, II. The results part in the abstract lacks data, not recommended to use text only.
Response 1:
The method used problem analysis and strategic decisions for the sustainable development of 62 kinds of CMHs in a Chinese Herbal Garden, which converges with some medicinal itineraries of Lingnan herbal medications and implemented a theoretical framework of management models for ten secondary schools, Aroma Garden from the L'Occitane in The Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi) Tsing Yi campus and Land from the Far East Consortium International Limited in Sai Kung Wu Lei Tau.
Comment 2:
General comment on the Introduction section: There are too few literature review paragraphs in the introduction, and the author needs to expand the introduction.
Response 2:
The “Sustainable development” part is added in the introduction.
Basically, sustainable development is required to meet some needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. It advocated the idea of “sustainable growth”, and it must take into account the social and economic factors as well as the ecological system, according to International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). As sustainable development is a global concern around the world, it is bringing into more public policies and facilities that are the most difficult task and not easy to solve, especially in some developed countries, such as Hong Kong. We don't have natural resources, e.g. land, and lack environmental protection knowledge, also an economy is a prerequisite condition in society. It is quite hard to maintain a Chinese herbal garden in an urban city.
Comment 3:
The Chinese characters in the table shall be deleted, and the Chinese characters in the figure shall have corresponding English explanations.
Response 3:
All the Chinese characters in the table have been deleted.
Comment 4:
Discussion
Your discussion section is not sufficient and need more work, like on the policy implication or the conclusion of comparison with other studies.
Response 4:
Compare with the other study, our proposed management model in a Chinese herbal garden is only suitable for Hong Kong's urban city. As the management model are not only focused on the economy, it also pays attention to education and training. It solves the understaffed problem as we have a Bachelor of Science (Honours) Chinese Medicinal Pharmacy opened from The Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi) Tsing Yi campus. Students are required to learn by doing, and participating in research work for the development of products and trying to initiate a business. These are different from other studies that just relate to the economy and cultivation. Hopefully, this management model also help to train talents for the corresponding industry.
Comment 5:
Conclusions
Focus on your results/findings. And in general, the tables of the paper are too long and there are too many pictures, and the corresponding text explanation and discussion and analysis are too few. It is suggested to strengthen and supplement them.
Response 5:
We cut some pictures already and write more in the explanation as well as the discussion part.
Reviewer 3 Report
Review of the article entitled "Establish a Management Model for Chinese Herbal Garden Sustainable in Hong Kong's Urban City” by Siu Kan Law, Dawn Ching Tung Au, Wesley Yeuk Lung Chow and Yanping Wang.
The work raises a very important issue, which is the development of methods of maintaining Chinese herbal gardens in the city of Hong Kong. The subject of the research undertaken is important especially of protecting biodiversity in the context of still developing urban areas in a given area. Work is of importance in the current trend of sustainable development.
In my opinion, this work is important and brings to a given area the issue of an attempt to establish sustainable development for Chinese herbal gardens based on 5 areas (land resources, manpower planning, economy, education or traning, ecostystem).
On the other hand, I have a few doubts and comments regarding the selection of the methodology for the conducted research. I would like the authors to expand it further. There are no criteria on the basis of which these plants were selected. Why 62 CMHs, why exactly these and not others were selected? What was it caused by?
In the discussion, too few threads were raised, some of the statements appear earlier in the text. Are there any already published works to which the obtained results could be compared?
Too many figures often do not contribute anything to the work, for example:
Figure number: 13,14,15,16,17,18,19
Please scale and format the remaining figures accordingly.
The names in Chinese were unnecessarily introduced. Suggests removing all of them and replacing them with their names in English.
To old citation, lines number: 390, 407, 425, 437, 441, 463
In addition, there were also some comments and question below:
Line 15. Why is sustainable development in quotation marks?
Lines 17, 18, 19, 25. Missing 's' at the end of CMH (it should be CMHs as previously entered on line 11)
Line 20. The name of the discoverer of this plant is missing
Lines 26,29,30,32,33,34. Chinese herbal garden - each word should start with a capital letter (as in the rest of the text, or with the small but consistency is to be maintained)
Lines 49 and 50. If we introduce an abbreviation (CMHs) earlier, it should be used consistently until the end
Lines 51 and 52. Lack of names of the discoverers of these plants, unnecessary names of these plants in Chinese - suggests changing them to English.
Lines 53. no citation at the end of the sentence
Lines 56-58. I do not understand this sentence, too complex, difficult to understand.
Line 63. name of the discoverer of the plant missing
Line 66. no citation at the end of the sentence
Line 66. name of the discoverer of the plant missing
Lines 72 and 73. Why is sustainable development in quotation marks?
Line 98. Table number 1; description incorrect, no need to enter full CMHs name again
In the whole table number 1. Delete Chinese plant names and Chinese names in the 'Main Function' column
In figure 1 in point (3) - I suggest you expand the name TWGHs CY .., In point (6) - the same
Please scale and format the remaining figures accordingly.
Line 148. Expand the abbreviation TCM Theory
Line 149. remove characters in chinese
Figure number 5 - please correct the color of the yellow circle - the inscriptions are completely invisible
Line 157. no citation
Lines 159 and 160. Sheung Wan, Central, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Hung Hom, Mong Kok, and Kwun Tong - what is it? I suggest that you explain this to the reader.
Line 165. no citation
Lines 168,169,170,171,172,179,181,183,185,187,189,191 - remove all Chinese characters
Lines 194, 196, 208. no citation
Line 228. The word gardens should be capitalized (as in all text)
Line 237. no citation
Line 260. What is STEM?
Lines 290 and 291. Delete Chinese characters
Lines 292 and 293. Unnecessarily re-introduced CMHs abbreviation again...
Line 310. Unnecessarily reintroduced expansion of the WHO abbreviation
Lines 324 and 325. No citation
Lines 317 and 320. No citation.
Lines 345,351,356,359. Why is sustainable development in quotation marks?
Author Response
Reviewer 3
Comment 1:
There are no criteria on the basis of which these plants were selected. Why 62 CMHs, why exactly these and not others were selected? What was it caused by?
Response 1:
It has been added in the method part:
These 62 CMHs belong to longevity plants, which have a shortened growth period and are suitable for Hong Kong’s weather, as well as the Chinese “Herbal Tea” raw materials.
Comment 2:
In the discussion, too few threads were raised, some of the statements appear earlier in the text. Are there any already published works to which the obtained results could be compared?
Response 2:
Same as Reviewer 2.
Comment 3:
Too many figures often do not contribute anything to the work, for example:
Figure number: 13,14,15,16,17,18,19
Please scale and format the remaining figures accordingly.
Response 3:
The figures have been removed and re-scale.
Comment 4:
The names in Chinese were unnecessarily introduced. Suggests removing all of them and replacing them with their names in English.
Response 4:
Chinese names are removed.
Comment 5:
Line 15. Why is sustainable development in quotation marks?
Response 5:
Deleted.
Comment 6:
Lines 17, 18, 19, 25. Missing 's' at the end of CMH (it should be CMHs as previously entered on line 11).
Response 6:
Changed.
Comment 7:
Line 20. The name of the discoverer of this plant is missing.
Response 7:
Aquilaria Sinensis (Incense Tree) also called "Pak Muk Heung" in Chinese name.
Comment 8:
Lines 26,29,30,32,33,34. Chinese herbal garden - each word should start with a capital letter (as in the rest of the text, or with the small but consistency is to be maintained).
Response 8:
Changed.
Comment 9:
Lines 49 and 50. If we introduce an abbreviation (CMHs) earlier, it should be used consistently until the end.
Response 9:
Changed.
Comment 10:
Lines 51 and 52. Lack of names of the discoverers of these plants, unnecessary names of these plants in Chinese - suggests changing them to English.
Response 10:
Deleted the Chinese name.
Comment 11:
Lines 53. no citation at the end of the sentence.
Response 11:
The citation has added at the end of herbal plants.
Comment 12:
Lines 56-58. I do not understand this sentence, too complex, difficult to understand.
Response 12:
Revised to:
As wild medicinal resources become more and more shortage, supply is greater than demand.
People cannot buy CMHs for preventing and curing COVID-19.
Comment 13:
Line 63. name of the discoverer of the plant missing.
Response 13:
Aquilaria Sinensis (Incense Tree) also called "Pak Muk Heung" in Chinese name.
Comment 14:
Line 66. no citation at the end of the sentence.
Response 14:
Added the citation:
Leung, F. The Silent Plight of Illegal Logging in Hong Kong, 2020. Available from https://earth.org/illegal-logging-hong-kong/
Comment 15:
Lines 72 and 73. Why is sustainable development in quotation marks?
Response 15:
Changed.
Comment 16:
Line 98. Table number 1; description incorrect, no need to enter full CMHs name again.
Response 16:
Changed to Table 1. 62 kinds of CMHs in a Chinese herbal garden.
Comment 17:
In the whole table number 1. Delete Chinese plant names and Chinese names in the 'Main Function' column.
Response 17:
The Chinese plant names have deleted.
Comment 18:
In figure 1 in point (3) - I suggest you expand the name TWGHs CY .., In point (6) - the same.
Response 18:
Changed to
Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Chun Yuk Ma Memorial College
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Hong Kong Yuen Long Lutheran Secondary School
Comment 19:
Please scale and format the remaining figures accordingly.
Response 19:
Resized.
Comment 20:
Line 148. Expand the abbreviation TCM Theory.
Response 20:
Changed to
traditional Chinese medicine theory.
Comment 21:
Figure number 5 - please correct the color of the yellow circle - the inscriptions are completely invisible
Response 21:
Corrected to the Gold color.
Comment 22:
Line 157. no citation.
Response 22:
Don’t has the citation as these are written by ourselves.
Comment 23:
Lines 159 and 160. Sheung Wan, Central, Wan Chai, Causeway Bay, Hung Hom, Mong Kok, and Kwun Tong - what is it? I suggest that you explain this to the reader.
Response 23:
This is the Hong Kong’s different districts.
Comment 24:
Line 165. no citation.
Response 24:
Added at the end of sentence.
Comment 25:
Lines 168,169,170,171,172,179,181,183,185,187,189,191 - remove all Chinese characters
Response 25:
Removed.
Comment 26:
Lines 194, 196, 208. no citation.
Response 26:
Don’t have the citations as these are written by ourselves.
Comment 27:
The word gardens should be capitalized.
Response 27:
Changed.
Comment 28:
Line 237. no citation.
Response 28:
Don’t has the citation as this is written by ourselves.
Comment 29:
Line 260. What is STEM?
Response 29:
“STEM Education” is an innovative teaching approach and positioned to develop diverse student potentials to meet future challenges, especially to enhance students’ learning ability, and improve their critical thinking skills.
Comment 30:
Lines 290 and 291. Delete Chinese characters.
Response 30:
Deleted.
Comment 31:
Lines 292 and 293. Unnecessarily re-introduced CMHs abbreviation again...
Response 31:
Corrected.
Comment 32:
Line 310. Unnecessarily reintroduced expansion of the WHO abbreviation.
Reponse 32:
Corrected.
Comment 33:
Lines 324 and 325. No citation.
Response 33:
Added at the end of paragraph.
Comment 34:
Lines 317 and 320. No citation.
Response 34:
Added at the end of sentence.
Comment 35:
Lines 345,351,356,359. Why is sustainable development in quotation marks?
Response 35:
Corrected.
Reviewer 4 Report
This manuscript provides a detailed understanding of Chinese Herbal Gardens and very clearly articulates how a management model can be developed to ensure sustainable outcomes from these gardens. Because moderate changes are required to improve the language, I suggest the authors and editors to correct grammatical errors, including in the abstract section. If this is done, then the manuscript will be ready for publication.
Author Response
Reviewer 4
Comment 1:
This manuscript provides a detailed understanding of Chinese Herbal Gardens and very clearly articulates how a management model can be developed to ensure sustainable outcomes from these gardens. Because moderate changes are required to improve the language, I suggest the authors and editors to correct grammatical errors, including in the abstract section. If this is done, then the manuscript will be ready for publication.
Response 1:
Corrected in the revised manuscript.
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Accept in present form.
Reviewer 3 Report
Thank you.
